Technology & Design class is a time for students to explore their creative sides while honing their engineering skills. It is our priority to prepare our kids for the rest of their education in high school and college as well as their future careers which will no doubt require them to be innovative, creative problem solvers.

In the classroom, our kids will work with these littleBits STEAM sets to explore electric circuits through a series of guided and open inventions. These littleBits are electronic building blocks and the system is designed to take students on an “invention journey” through these steps:

• Introducing littleBits
• littleBits Invention Cycle
• Guided Challenges
• Open Challenges
• Your Own Challenges

As the students move along this journey, the tasks become more and more complex.

It is the beginning of the school year. The kids are just starting their Technology and Design class and taking the first steps of their journey. In this first class, the kids watched a short video about the basics of electricity and were introduced to their litteBits sets. They were just playing with the pieces and figuring out which pieces performed which functions.

As the kids begin to work on Guided and Open Challenges, the lessons are designed to align well to contemporary standards such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
– Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Inc.

West Depot Architecture donated the two littleBits STEAM sets to the Yadkin Valley Community school and is heading up the Technology and Design class. Architect, Joe Seipel-Parks and designer, Candace Brown volunteered at school to teach the students how the sets work.

A big “thank you” to West Depot Architecture for donating two sets of Little Bits to our school!