Us Robotics Modem

Career Aspirations
Whatever their career aspirations, designing and building a robot from scratch helps students see how the abstract lessons learned in physics, trigonometry, and science classes actually work in the real world, says Wendy Wooten, a science teacher at the 3,100-student Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, Calif. Ms. Wooten teaches an elective course in robotics.

In fact, the school’s robotics team, which Ms. Wooten advises, recently won the Chairman’s Award, the most coveted prize in a nationwide robotics competition sponsored by FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, a nonprofit group based in Manchester, N.H. Roughly 20,000 high school students participated.

“Before [the students started using robotics], you could give them equations and it was meaningless for them,” Ms. Wooten said. “All of a sudden, they have a reason for learning math. When they actually have to learn gear ratios and the relationship between the power of the motor and its output speed, it becomes crystal clear.”
Reinforcing Academics