Challenge Lab Projects

Sphero Robotics

Sphero Robots in action!  Students can program Sphero Robots with iPads.  

Sphero

New York State History Day

On Friday February 26th, students from South Orangetown Middle School had the opportunity to interview Dr. John S. Davis for their New York State History Day project.  Will Paskowski, Kennedy Outlaw, Luke Corpina, and Sam Markoe are exploring the impact of the first successful bone marrow transplant which occurred during 1956.  The bone marrow transplant research was conducted by Dr. Donnall Thomas at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital located in Cooperstown, NY. In 1990, Dr. Thomas received the Nobel Prize for his ground breaking research. Mr. McIntosh advised the New York State History Day project and was able to facilitate a virtual meeting with Dr. Davis.  Below is the New York State History Day Documentary.

Earth Day Poster Contest

Students from the 6th Grade Challenge Lab completed a poster for the Earth Day Poster Contest:

Earth Day Poster

Cardboard Boat Building Contest

Based off of MIT’s annual cardboard boat building contest, students in the Challenge Lab are building a cardboard boat to race in the SOMS swimming pool.  Students can only use cardboard and duct tape.  This project challenges students to tap into engineering skills, problem solving, and collaboration. 

This is a great example of the 4 C’s in action!

Cardboard Boat

 

First LEGO League Robotics Competition

Students are working hard to prepare their robot for the First LEGO League Competition. 

LEGO Robotics

littleBits

Students working with littleBits.  In the picture below students are building a keyboard to play music.

little bits

 

Art

Below is a painting by 8th Grader Kevin Liang.  This painting won a Silver Key for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.

Art

SparkFun

Students are creating circuits with the SparkFun Inventor’s Kit.  Students are also applying code to make these circuits come alive!

Spark Fun Circuits