Learning about Time, Speed, and Distance with Sphero

STEM integration can be daunting at first and it can be tough to know where to start.  Sphero's series of SPRK lessons begins with a very straightforward lesson on time, speed, and distance.  When I think about learning these concepts I can still see the word problems (R = D/T).  This type of computation only became real to me once I put a speedometer on my bike and started using it to commute.  I was always figuring how fast I needed to go to make sure I had time to shower once I got to work.
With a simple 2 line program written in Macrolab, an app that allows you to program Sphero without complicated syntax, your students can explore, measure, observe, and discover the relationship between speed, time, and distance.
The lesson provided by SpheroEdu is clear and has a teacher guide, a student guide, and a data collection sheet.  They are stored in a zip file and include both PDF and word files. This is great for those days, like today, when I open my computer and it tells me adobe acrobat has taken the day off.  The PDFs are key for me because we use notability on the iPads to have students work with PDFs.  So in my group of 3-4 students (Sphero's recommended group size, and a good recommendation at that) one iPad will be used to program the robot, one will be used to record data on the PDF and the other 2 can be used to take pictures and/or video if I want the students to create a video reflection afterwards.
The video below is a 4 minute walk though of the first lesson document.

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A big thank you goes out to Orbotix for providing 2 Sphero robots to make this review series possible.