A recent PD+ Community post asked about ideas for infusing STEM into Physical Education class, to draw inspiration for an upcoming “STEM in the Gym” event. The event sought to expose physical education teachers to ways to incorporate computational thinking into their classes, as a jumping off point to build lessons and games around. This idea of bringing teachers together to play games and think creatively about how to blend what they are doing with what students are learning in other parts of their day is, to me, a wonderful way to engage in professional development! It can ignite the same kind of excitement and engagement that students feel when they are playing the games, and gives teachers an opportunity to think more deeply about how and why they are bringing these games into their space.

This struck me as a great opportunity not only to think about ways to connect the STEM learning that students are doing in their classrooms to gym class, but also to think about the ways that connection could support adding physical activity into those STEM learning experiences in the classroom. No matter which direction the inspiration travels, it seems like a win-win situation!

Thinking about connecting robotics to physical education class…

Mobile robots are a great way to bring STEM into the gym. Whether the robots themselves are embedded in the activity, or just inspire the activity, there are creative and fun ways to bring robotics activities to life in a physically engaging way. The timing of these activities can also coincide with when concepts are being taught in class, to help students make more meaningful connections.

• There are already game-based STEM Labs for IQ and EXP that are based around classic gym style games. For instance, playing a game of Tug of War in gym class just as students are starting the Tug of War STEM Lab Unit, could be a great connection point to make concepts like speed and torque more concrete.
• Some of the VR Playgrounds would translate well to the space of the gym, and the coding challenges could be adapted into fun games! For example, in the Castle Color Match activity, a goal is to sort some disks into their colored goals, and hide the others behind the wall of the castle. This could turn into a creative team game with rules from the activity - like only one disk can be moved at a time.
• Many 123 Activities could become games in the gym. For instance, in the Fishbowl activity, students code a robot fish to swim around without falling ‘out of the bowl’. In the gym, have students try to ‘swim’ around a ‘fishbowl’ without bumping into each other or crossing the edge of the bowl and getting eliminated. For each round, the fishbowl space gets smaller. For an added challenge, students who are eliminated could turn into fish tank decorations and serve as obstacles for the swimming fish!

Gym class is not limited to just the mobile robots either - there are also creative ways to connect STEM building experiences to physical games.

• The GO Adaptation Claw build could be used as part of a relay race - almost like an ‘egg and spoon’ style race, but using the Adaptation Claw instead. 
• Students could experiment with Inclined Planes in gym class to play bowling games, in conjunction with learning about the Inclined Plane in the GO Simple Machines STEM Lab Unit.

Thinking about connecting physical movement to what you are doing in robotics…

We often incorporate ‘Brain Breaks’ activities into our day to keep students engaged and energized. A quick game of ‘Simon Says’ or one minute of ‘get your wiggles out’ can often be what is needed to refocus students in the middle of a lesson. While robotics is often a highly engaging subject matter, there can be times where movement and physicality can enhance the learning experience for everyone.

• Large printed copies of the 123 Touch buttons or Coder cards could be used to play a game of ‘Robot Simon Says’, where students have to move their own bodies in the way the robot would move from that command. This is a great way to reinforce the command to behavior connection and add some movement into your day.
• Setting up a ‘human sized’ version of the Field your robots are going to move on can give students a chance to walk out the path they need to code. This brings some physicality to path planning, and can make student collaboration and communication more explicit.
• Adding physical elements to explorations with your builds can also go a long way to making meaningful learning. For instance, in testing the motorized Super Car, you could have students ‘race’ their build as a ‘Brain Break’ activity, and compare and contrast their movement to that of the car.
• Many of the Practice activities in IQ STEM Labs (like this example from Up and Over) could be used as quick movement breaks, where each team tries to complete the same task the robot is doing but in the fastest way possible.

Not only does incorporating movement into class tend to help students stay focused, it can also be a great team building strategy. The humor that is often inherent in these kinds of activities is a great way to break a class out of a potential dip in energy, and bring them together in joyful learning.