As part of Computer Science Education Week (#CSEdWeek) in early December 2022, TKS Kindergarten collaborated with University students from the KAUST Robotics, Intelligent Systems, and Control Lab (KAUST RISC Lab). University students supported KG students in inquiry as they explored a range of computer science playgrounds, from programming robots to make their own computers.
This #CSEdWeek event also signified the launch of a robotics learning unit for KG students. Later in the year, KG students will also contribute robotics ideas and creations at the KAUST Research Conference on Robotics and Autonomy event.
The KG Reuse Centers aim to develop an awareness of waste management in children who will later make a connection to their role in the environment. Our reuse center will provide materials for other spaces, Tinker Room, Art Studio, and the Maker Spaces in our classrooms. These spaces support Kindergarten's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) program.
KAUST Waste Management and Averda helped launch our KG Reuse Centers last December. They have been collecting and providing the materials to stock our space on a regular basis. This ongoing collaboration supports the different events and inquiries that are happening in the kindergarten. For example, our students created their own computers during our Computer Science Education Week last December 4-8. Different classes visited the area to gather supplies as they learned about repurposing materials during their units about Sharing the Planet. Our young learners visit the Reuse Center as they explore and discover ways to be creative during their unit on How We Express Ourselves in the classrooms and in the newly opened Art Studio.
We are very grateful for this partnership and we are confident about the positive impact this has on our students and community.
Professor Eric Feron and his team from the RISC Lab visited the students at Kindergarten where they explored the science of flight and learnt more about drones and how they fly.
As part of Computer Science Education Week, TKS Kindergarten collaborated with University students and staff from the Computational, Electrical, Mathematical Science & Engineering (CEMSE) division to take part in ‘Hour of Code’ – an international activity to celebrate (and introduce) young students to computer science.
The Hour of Code activity launched their robotics learning unit, and the young students explored three different robots (Cubelets, Hexbugs and Ozobots). The students and staff from CEMSE led some hands-on inquiry sessions with the students in K1 to K3.
Find out more on the CEMSE website and check out the activity in this video.
As part of the K2 Sharing the Planet unit, the Red Sea Research Center hosted the children and they were able to explore the aquariums, where they were introduced to the jellyfish and learned about “Nemo” and other sea creatures. This is what the students thought…
On seeing the giant whale shark…
“Is it dead or alive”?... “It’s like a statue!”… “I smell fish.”
… and their favorite part of the trip…
“Seeing Nemo and the rainbow fish”… “I counted 8 fish!”… “I like how the anemone is doing ‘open-shut’”.
As part of #RobotoKAUST, the libraries at the Kindergarten have been transformed into the “Little Red Sea Research Center”. In collaboration with the Red Sea Research Center and CEMSE Division (Professor Mike Berumen, Professor Eric Feron and Assistant Professor Shinkyu Park), the students are learning more about the Red Sea and the use of robots in the sea.
The kindergarten students are again taking part in the conference and have been tasked to work on a project to solve a real-world problem – contamination of coral reefs – by designing robots for the task. See more here. The students’ work will be showcased at the RobotoKAUST Gala event on March 1, 2022.
To see more about KG’s collaborations with the Conference, visit Robotokids.
Grade 3 students had a visit from the ‘FishKAM’ team (Mohamed Omar, Andres Espinoza and Krasi Todorov) who shared videos of the underwater camera being installed, explained how divers breathe underwater with air canisters, and brought SCUBA gear for the kids to try on… and answered lots of questions about pirates and mermaids! Continuing their Red Sea theme, the K3s will soon be visiting the KAUST research vessel – RV Thuwal.
