Students show off their STEM abilities

Incarnate Word Academy Middle Level students showed off their STEM abilities to Elementary Level fifth graders during a robotics sumo wrestling activity on October 24.
 
Students in Mr. Howard Ludlow’s robotics class tested their robot’s strength, as well as their programming prowess, as they attempted to knock their opponent’s robot out of a miniature sumo ring in a bracket-style tournament. During the activity, fifth grade Elementary Level students were invited to engage with the Middle Level competitors in order to learn more about the robotics program.
 
Throughout the school year, students learn how to maneuver robots through increasingly complex environments and learn how to adequately manipulate objects within a robot’s path. Robotics classes at IWA allow students to perform programming computations while teaching the industrial and practical purposes robotics serve in our everyday life. The high standards it takes to expertly perform such computations helps establish a deeper interest in technology and prompts students to use their minds to benefit not only their grades, but the entire community.
 
“These students are our future,” IWA robotics teacher Howard Ludlow said. “It’s common knowledge that this generation of students will be exponentially more tech-savvy than me or my generation. We’re here to get them started.”