The San Fransisco 49ers Museum recently announced an educational partnership with Wonder Workshop, a robotics company from Silicon Valley. This partnership will allow the 49ers Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Program to provide its students with programmable, interactive robots, promoting technological and engineering practices in the children.
The 49ers STEM Program, which accepts students in grades K-8, is beginning its second year and is planning to host over 60,000 participants. They will give students early exposure to the science and technology world, a valuable outcome for students who are increasingly choosing non-STEM paths. By teaming up with Wonder Workshops, the STEM Program will get to use their Dash and Dot robots, which are programmable robots designed for children aged 5 and older.
As the Dash and Dot robots allow students to learn about robotics and technology in an interactive and dynamic matter, they fit perfectly with the goals of the STEM Program. These programmable robots will give students direct exposure to coding and robotics from an incredibly young age, and the program directors hope that this will help to pique children’s interests further.
“Integrating Dash and Dot into our STEM curriculum will afford visiting students the opportunity to truly think like an engineer, and see the results of that process,” said Jesse Lovejoy, 49ers Museum Director, in a press release.
Additionally, the programs hopes to use these robots in the context of football to promote physical activity and health in the children. Vikas Gupta, Wonder Workshop CEO, said, “Kids coming through the 49ers Museum STEM education program will be inspired to experience coding with real robots in an active, sports environment as part of the world around them. We get code and we get kids’ play, and we can’t wait to see how this partnership inspires our next generation to think differently while having the time of their lives.”