The Coolest Thing in Fourth Grade

Quinn DuBoef

Have you ever heard of Sphero? A Sphero is a small spherical robot with a clear hard plastic cover. You usually start using Sphero in 4th grade in STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and Spheros, you will learn how to control and drive them around a course, then you will start using coding blocks to make the Spheros do more advanced things.

Different coding blocks give the Sphero different commands like speed, direction, color, and stop and start time. We will get to use Spheros even more in middle school with their STEM teacher, Frankie Gibson.

I interviewed her to learn more about Spheros. She told me how they work.

“They can move in any direction but what makes them remarkable is they have these sensors so they can sense which way is up and down so they always stay upright.” Ms. Gibson said. Ms. Gibson also talked about how Spheros can teach you “everything from mathematical triangulation to reenacting historical events.

“The fourth graders here know that because we reenacted Paul Revere’s midnight ride with Spheros!”

Learning about Spheros has made me more interested in joining the LEGO League. Ms. Gibson said that “the Sphero technology is very similar to the robots that my students in LEGO League use.”

If you are in fourth grade and you like using Spheros, next year you could try joining the LEGO league! If you are not in fourth grade, now you have something to look forward to!