North Bay students learn STEM though coding Lego robots
North Bay Catholic school students are learning about coding and robotics while using Lego. It's part of an innovation project that includes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Students are split into teams to create a project about a real-world crisis and how they would solve it while also building and coding a mini Lego robot to solve the challenging missions.
"What we've been doing is building custom parts for the robot,” explained Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School student Cooper Morrow.“We built a bin and sort of ‘T’ to drop stuff."
Using computers, the Lego robots are programmed by the students to perform specific tasks, like knock into things, carry objects and push them. If a task is complete, that robot's team scores points.
"The whole class can participate rather it being an extra after school or weekend program," explained Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board Technology Enabled Learning Facilitator Peter Anello.
These projects started at the beginning of the school year. New this year to the curriculum, the ‘First Lego League Class’ pack program allows participating teachers to partner with First Robotics Canada and lead a 12-week program design course.
“I find it really interesting and fun to do. It's cool how you can code something like that to do whatever," said Morrow.
The project's theme is ‘Superpowered’ and focuses on exploring energy and how it's stored and delivered. Isabella Castiglione and her team focused on trying to find ways to use solar panels at night.
"They store the energy from the sunlight but it just doesn't work throughout the whole night,” explained the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School student. “If we have an outlet they can plug into, then they can work in the night."
This robotics competition is taking place in four different schools and eight classrooms. It started this week and runs until next Wednesday. The team with the highest amount of points from their project and competition from each classroom will go to the regional competition in December.
"It's really a nice resource for teachers to be able to open up a program, make some tweaks and deliver it,” said Anello. “We're hoping to keep this program running for years to come."
The goal of this course is to keep students engaged in science and math in a way that's engaging and fun.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
2 children dead, 6 injured after city bus crashes into daycare in Montreal suburb Laval, driver arrested
Two children are dead and six others are injured after a Laval city bus crashed into a daycare Wednesday morning. The driver of the bus, a 51-year-old man, has been arrested and faces charges of homicide and dangerous driving, police say.

How much Canadians have fallen behind amid high inflation and who's hurting the most
Inflation has eroded purchasing power for many Canadians, but the experience with rapidly rising prices has been far from uniform.
Awkward moment or conscious message? Political experts weigh in on Danielle Smith-Justin Trudeau handshake
An 'awkward' attempt at a handshake between Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and the prime minister Tuesday is another example of leaders from the western province hesitating before shaking Justin Trudeau's hand, say political experts.
China says it was smeared in Biden State of the Union speech
China says it was smeared in U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union address that repeatedly mentioned competition between the two countries.
Turkiye, Syria quake death toll surpasses 11,000
With the hope of finding survivors fading, stretched rescue teams in Turkiye and Syria searched Wednesday for signs of life in the rubble of thousands of buildings toppled by a catastrophic earthquake. The confirmed death toll from the world's deadliest quake in more than a decade passed 11,000.
'Crypto king' associate operated parallel Ponzi scheme while living lavish lifestyle, court documents allege
An associate of Ontario’s self-described “crypto king” was operating his own fraud scam parallel to the multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, court documents allege.
opinion | Before you do your taxes, take note of these tax credits and deductions you may not have known about
Many Canadians are experiencing strains caused by the increased cost of living and inflation. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, contributor Christopher Liew shares some of the top credits and deductions that you may be able to claim on your income tax return to help you save money.
opinion | Tom Mulcair: This is why the federal health-care proposal is so disappointing
Justin Trudeau has thrown in the towel in the fight to maintain the federal role as gatekeeper of a public, universal, accessible and fair health-care system in Canada, writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca. 'That could have tragic consequences for folks on the lower rungs of the social and economic ladder.'
A Conservative government would uphold federal-provincial health-care funding deals: Poilievre
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that if he becomes prime minister he would uphold the 10-year deals Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is looking to ink with provinces and territories that would inject $46.2 billion in new funding into Canada's strained health-care systems.