Hexbugs go head-to-head with each other in a sumo ring
On Friday, October 24th, Northeastern participated for the third consecutive year in UP Academy Dorchester‘s SPARK STEM event, in which all 4th-6th grade students from the UP Academy system come to the Dorchester school for a day of hands-on STEM activities. As part of this event, the Center for STEM Education ran two 20-minute tabletop activities: Sumo Hexbugs and Hexbug Habitats. Hexbugs are little motorized toys that run in random directions. By modifying the hexbugs with paper attachments, they can be turned into tiny sumo wrestlers to fight other hexbugs – this was one half of the activity. The other half was to build a habitat for the hexbugs to live in: providing a shelter for the hexbugs from the sun (covered paths), defenses against predators [i.e. a bigger hexbug] (close-able flaps, a trap, etc), and entertainment (a maze, jump ramp, etc). It was my first time running the habitat activity and it was a big hit amongst students – and a good STEAM activity (i.e. introducing Arts to STEM).
Thank you to the four NEU students who helped make this day possible: Claire, Reid, Quinn, and Zander!
