Welcome to the Fall 2018 issue of Turtle Talk, the Terrapin newsletter, as we proudly celebrate our 35th year.
Add a New Dimension to the Community
Bee-Bot can now roam through a 3D Community
Terrapin's new 3D Community Construction Kit provides everything you need to build a 3D community for Bee-BotorBlue-Bot to explore. Modeled on the Community Mat, the 3D Community Construction Kit features a bookstore, post office, pizza parlor, school, fire station, library, and more.
The kit may be used in conjunction with the Community Mat or to create a standalone community. It includes 15 easy-to-assemble boxes (a fun project that promotes dexterity and fine motor skills) with 12 pre-printed stickers of building fronts and 3 sides for each. Students may use 3 blank boxes to create buildings of their own by drawing or pasting photos or images.
The 3D Community Construction Kit enhances community studies while bringing art into STEM and developing coding, mapping, navigation, planning and measuring skills.
The Houston Parks Department introduced computer science and computational thinking for children in low-income families by deploying Makerspaces in 30 locations, including schools, child care agencies, and community centers throughout Houston.
Experienced trainers Karen North and Heidi Williams provided an overview of how the products work and the continuum of learning they provide to Makerspace administrators during an all-day introductory session in September.
"Our training goal was to increase confidence levels of our participants in integrating computer science into their Makerspaces." noted Heidi. "I am pleased to report our before and after surveys indicate a huge increase in both confidence and a desire to learn more. Plus, we all had fun!"
Terrapin mats and accessories provide many learning options.
Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot are great for coding but also provide student motivation that may be channeled into teaching many subjects. Terrapin offers accessories to utilize the 'bots across the curriculum, including a dozen mats sized and designed to teach a particular skill or subject. New resources have recently been added to enhance the classroom use of the mats.
CVC Word Cards come with the CVC Words Mat or may be used with the Card Mat. Each card has an image on one side and the corresponding word on the other.
Bright yellow Dice come with the Dice Mat. Use them to create games and challenges on and off the mat.
Alphabet Cards will soon be available with theAlphabet Mator may be used with the Card Mat. Each card has a letter on one side and a word beginning with the letter on the other.
The Bee-Bot Mat Emulator runs in a browser and is available at no charge. Try out the mats and operate Bee-Bot online.
Download mat images to the Blue-Bot app and navigate Blue-Bot over the same mat on the table and the tablet.
