Sphero Solar System

Lesson Summary

Gone are the days of creating models of the solar system from styrofoam balls. In this lesson, which incorporates 21st century problem solving skills, students will learn to code robotic Spheros to move in elliptical orbits around a sun. As educators, we should strive to provide our students with experiences that foster their growth in technology and problem solving skills. Coding provides students opportunities to think critically, problem solve, further improve math skills, and develop processing skills, among other things. Coding is not gender specific and provides equal opportunities for students to experiment and learn from their findings.

Sphero Solar System is a lesson designed to combine the Earth Science standards of the Solar System with coding skills in a fun and engaging week-long lesson. Day one of this lesson allows students time to work collaboratively as they incorporate critical thinking and problem solving skills in order to work their way through a series of coding tasks. On day two of this lesson, students will select a planet from the solar system and collaborate as a team to research characteristics of their planet based on a rubric. Each team will create a presentation about their planet and post their presentation on a Padlet wall so that information may be accessed by everyone in the class. Finally, on day three, the lesson culminates with students working together to create a model of the solar system in which the Spheros are coded to move as planets at a scale distance from the stationary sun.

TIPC Ratings

Research & Information Fluency

Rating: Approaching

Explanation: Although not a focus of this lesson, research and information fluency is integrated into this authentic learning experience. This lesson provides many opportunities for students to acquire, evaluate, and apply information they have obtained. Students need to synthesize the information provided to them and then code a Sphero to perform certain tasks to complete a challenge. Students will also need to take what they have learned and apply that knowledge to solve an unknown problem of coding the entire solar system.

Communication & Collaboration

Rating: Approaching

Explanation: Working as a team or a whole class to solve a problem requires students to learn how to become effective communicators and collaborators. The structure of this lesson allows students to build and show these 21st century skills. Each day/activity in the lesson allows the teams to work together to complete the task. The first day activity students must work together to complete several challenges that help them to learn learn and code a Sphero. The second activity allows students to digitally work together to produce a presentation that will be shared with the rest of the class. The last activity for students involves the entire class coding Spheros to make a solar system where each planet (Sphero) revolves around the sun. In order to perform this feat, student groups must constantly share their discoveries and work together as a class so their measurements, speed and orbits are correct.

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Rating: Ideal

Explanation: This lesson provides students with the opportunity to solve a problem: “How to do you code Spheros to create a solar system”. Each of the learning experiences in this lesson helped to provide students with the tools and information needed to answer this question but in the end, it was up to the students to reflect on their learning and make it happen. Students need to find answers to the following questions to make the solar system:
How far from the sun must my Sphero be placed?
How fast does the Sphero need to move compared to other plants in the solar system?
What does the code look like to make an ellipse around the sun?
How do I get the Sphero to revolve counterclockwise?
This lesson was a great example of Henrio Transformation where students were provided an authentic learning problem and had to critically think in order to solve the problem.

Creativity & Innovation

Rating: Ideal

Explanation: Students were provided with video tutorials on how to code a Sphero but were not provided with videos or help on how to construct the solar system. Students needed to reflect on their research and information they learned, as well as talk through and discuss their ideas in order to create a unique product. This authentic approach allowed students to make a deep connection to the materials and provided the opportunity for students to innovate. One example of this innovation/creativity occurred when students determined that they needed to code the angle as a negative number in order to create the counterclockwise elliptical path of the planets.