NSU University School VIEWPOINT Spring 2019

LOWER SCHOOL 3 DESIGN WITH DAD “DesignwithDadwasagreatopportunity for thedadsof our youngest students to see what happens in our school on a daily basis,” said Donna Tobey, Ed.S., Lower School director. “The event provided an opportunity to meet one another and build community.” Fathers of our junior kindergarten and kindergarten students had the pleasure of spending the morning with their children while engaging in engineering, coding, and robotics experiences at our Design with Dad event in January. After watching WUTV morning announcements and receiving a warm welcome from Donna Tobey, Ed.S., USchool Lower School director, the dads and their children began enjoying the planned activities. In theMediaCenter, innovation lab and robotics teacher Darren Sterne, M.S., led a robotics lesson with Cubelets by Modular Robotics. These small, color-coded cubes magnetically stick together to form a variety of simple, modular robots. In the Innovation Lab, the dads had a chance to practice teamwork with their children, as they solved an engineering challenge using Lego bricks and Lego car parts. Innovation lab instructor Michele Garren tasked them with the challenge of creating a Lego car that would successfully travel down the Lego ramp. A friendly competition revealed which car could travel the farthest. Our dads and students observed the effects of weight distribution, gravity, acceleration, and structural integrity. At another location, they used our new Imagination Playground Blocks to create incredible structures and tunnels.