ASHEBORO — A wide variety of subjects — from robotics to school lunches, multiplication to World War II — were covered by students’ projects in Asheboro City Schools’ second annual Digital Learning Expo on Friday.
The purpose of the event is to showcase exemplary projects and demonstrate how students are using technology to enhance their learning.
This year’s event moved from the Professional Development Center to the gymnasium on the Asheboro High School campus to provide plenty of space for the projects by 153 students in grades 1-12.
Students from all eight city schools took part with their individual and team projects, which also covered topics dealing with future technologies, environmental concerns, culture, programming, literacy and health. More than 30 community members judged the projects this year.
Tyler Malpass, a third-grader at Lindley Park Elementary, used a combination of technologies to present his project on the top battles of World War II. He had a World War II game which piqued his “interest in World War II stuff.”
So he researched the top battles, choosing ones like the Battle of Moscow in which 700,000 died, according to the information he used, and Pearl Harbor in which 2,335 Americans died. He found actual battle images and combined these with recorded and printed text information and used Google Earth to pinpoint each location.
Two Lindley Park fourth-graders, Sarah Barber and Emma Hinesley, came up with a multiplication video game. “All kids do video games,” Sarah said, so they decided to devise one which helps teach multiplication. An underwater diver travels across the screen as each problem is answered correctly.
Three fifth-graders from Guy B. Teachey Elementary developed a PowerPoint after researching the benefits and uses of solar energy, especially for cars. Their conclusion: “Solar energy saves the environment from pollution and saves a lot of money from gas bills.” Matthew Thompson, Johnny Serrato and Easton Price, who said he has asthma and would benefit from less pollution, all worked on the project.
A team of six fifth-graders at Charles W. McCrary Elementary collaborated on “Robots Lend a Helping Hand.” Their robot arm was assembled from a kit, using complicated drawings, and then programmed, using a laptop computer, to lift a small cup and put it back on the table.
They received a grant of about $200 to purchase the robotic arm and worked on it, piece by piece, three times a week for nearly an hour each time, according to Cheryl Perkins, McCrary’s technology teacher.
The team consisted of Sam Davidson, Ubaldo Gutierrez, Joi Hernandez, Max Howell, Steven Marquez and Marco Romero.
Mayra Correa-Ramirez, an eighth-grader at North Asheboro Middle School, focused on school lunches, how students viewed them and their nutritional value. She also compared school meals to fast food offerings and concluded that “school foods are better than fast food and students have the option of having a vegetable and fruit.”
Students’ projects were entered in one of three categories: Creativity and Innovation; Communication and Collaboration; Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making.
The names of the winners will be carried in the Sunday, March 24 edition.