When I attended the 3Dux Build A Bot session during NJ CS PD Week, I was about to start a new job teaching STEAM and needed resources for K-6. This hands-on workshop allowed me to build an animal and its habitat with simple resources that could be applicable to multiple grade levels and best of all, these resources were all standards-aligned. Afterwards, I learned I was the lucky winner of a Go Box and, fortunately, the librarian at my new school also had 3Dux materials she willingly shared with me to get started. 

After the kinders copleted their alphabet, Ms. Rothrock moved on to a bigger challenge for her 5th grade class. They were tasked to build a bot with a real-world focus: endangered species and climate change. One group designed a land-based ecosystem to support pollinators and other threatened creatures. They built trees to provide food and shelter, while also helping reduce greenhouse gases—tying their design into larger environmental goals. The second group explored life under the sea, creating a habitat to protect fish, coral reefs, and bottom dwellers. Their underwater world included plants and structures to keep the ocean ecosystem healthy and balanced. Both groups blended creativity with purpose, using design and engineering to imagine solutions that support life on land and in the sea.