STEM lab serves robotics, computer programming for lunch at Ontario junior high – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

ONTARIO >> At Woodcrest Junior High School, lunchtime means sandwiches, fresh fruit, robots and circuitry.

Here we go, said seventh-grader Adrian Agustin, 12, tossing a polystyrene ball at a hand-drawn target hooked up to a circuit board. The sensor behind Adrians target registered the impact, and on an attached 8-by-8 grid of lights, an illuminated +1 scrolled across. And another. And so on.

The kids have an opportunity to come in and explore, experiment, hang out with friends, have a safe environment to play with engineering, said Lisa Lista, an instructional coach at the school and one of the two women behind the schools lunchtime STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lab.

The lab began in October, sharing space with another classroom, but soon became so popular that it needed a full-sized classroom of its own.

There are times when this classroom is so filled that we need to get help from other teachers, said Sarai Padilla, an instructional coach at the school and Listas partner in the lab.

Up to 30 kids will show up in the laboratory at a time.

I didnt know if kids would come, Lista said. Its during their lunch and their time for hanging out with their friends at the lunch tables. ASB usually has a lot of stuff going on: games, music. But thankfully, a lot of the kids want to come in. They want to do something, hands-on.

The lunchtime STEM lab participants run the gamut from special education students to honors students.

Its a safe place for everybody to come to, Padilla said. You dont have to have any engineering experience at all. They just come in and say Whats this about? and are curious.

The students build Lego Mindstorms robots, HyperDuino computer components and Little Bits modular electronics, like the ones Adrian was using.

Last year, I was using Little Bits in my classroom, with my fifth-graders, and wanted to be able to open up and branch out to other students instead of just my class, Lista said. We wanted a wider range of kids to be able to come.

While there are structured projects available, there are no grades and students are able to experiment and tinker with the labs technology.

We have a girl group who come in and they made an electronic nail file, Lista said, grinning. Its something that theyre interested in. Its easy for them to come in and explore and create.

One student has been so inspired that he and his brother now raid the trash from electronics stores for spare parts.

He has made a Bluetooth earphone set, Padilla said.

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Hes made a fan, Lista said.

... that you plug into your phone, Padilla said.

Hes made a cellphone charger, Lista said. He started here, with Little Bits.

It opened up a new world for him, Padilla said.

Thats awesome, Lista said.

Next year, the STEM lab will be back, sort of.

Its actually going to be a course, Lista said. Next year, its going to be an elective for the students.

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STEM lab serves robotics, computer programming for lunch at Ontario junior high - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin