Pound students incorporate robots into interactive mathematics lesson

November 12, 2025

Pound Middle School seventh graders programmed mathematical excitement this fall with the help of measuring sticks, graph paper and aqua-colored robots.
 
Students in April Schermann’s Math Course 2D classes incorporated robots into a lesson about distance, rate and time. The main learning goal was for them to recognize that the robot’s constant speed acted as a rate of change. After measuring how fast per second their robots traveled, they could make accurate predictions about their future movements.
 
Liz and MihKing said they enjoyed exploring math equations in an energetic way. They programmed their robots to travel at different speeds, recorded many data points and built a graph that illustrated how to solve distance, rate and time problems.
 
“It was really fun and interactive,” Liz said. “Probably in the textbook, we wouldn’t be able to do something that is this interactive. We were able to do hands-on work.”
 
“We might have done something boring, but this was way more exciting,” MihKing said. “It was fun.”
 
Schermann began working at Pound this fall after spending the previous 23 years teaching high school math, physics and computer science classes outside of Lincoln. The original distance, rate and time lesson featured several options that involved wind-up toys and videos. Schermann decided to use the robots to give the Squires more memorable experiences to draw from.
 
“Now when we talk about proportions and the relationship of that idea of the robot going a constant speed, we always have that to relate back to,” Schermann said. “It was really good, because it’s a moment in their learning that they have as a core memory, and now we can always relate back to it, versus, ‘Hey, remember when we watched a video of a toy walking?’ They programmed the robot, they timed it, they measured it, they collected the data and they made the graph, so they had more invested in that learning experience.”
 
Students like Liz and MihKing began the activity by programming their robots to complete two functions. If the Squires pressed the machine’s A button, the robot would travel one meter at ten percent of its maximum speed. If they pressed the B button, the robot would travel at 20 percent of its maximum speed.
 
They then placed the robot on a flat surface next to a measuring stick. They used stopwatches to collect data based on how far the robot traveled in five, ten, 15 and 20 seconds. The sturdy makeup of the robots ensured they would move in a straight line each time, providing reliable data for the experiment.
 
The Squires then built a table, graph and equation that mathematically modeled the robot’s constant movement. They recorded their findings and compared them with other groups. The whole class then determined that their equations had proved the mathematical principle of distance, rate and time.
 
Schermann said it was exciting to watch light bulbs of understanding begin to shine bright for the Squires as the lesson unfolded.
 
“I knew we could incorporate a little bit of logic with coding, a little bit of physics with distance, rate and time, and then data collection and analysis with math,” Schermann said. “I really, truly think that students need more hands-on learning, whether it’s using a stopwatch, measuring, anything like that. Doing anything hands-on to enhance learning is really important.”
 
The activity was the second time Schermann’s students included technology in their math period. During a recent lesson on probability, she asked her classes to program tiny micro:bit computers with an accelerometer function. When they shook their micro:bit device, it produced random integers between one and 20. Students then studied whether the micro-computers came up with certain numbers more often or if there was the same probability for all of them to appear.
 
“It’s giving students opportunities to be creators of technology rather than just consumers of technology,” Schermann said. “They could have just clicked a link to do this, but they got more out of it when they actually programmed the micro:bit.”
 
Liz felt the robots and micro:bits could be part of many more math activities. Math Course 2D topics include proportional relationships, rational number operations, linear equations, probability, geometry, transformational geometry, 3-D geometry, angle relationships and the Pythagorean Theorem.
 
“I’m definitely hoping we can use the robots for other lessons,” Liz said.
 
Schermann said her goal as a teacher is to create meaningful lessons that help students increase their math knowledge. She felt this fall’s technology-based activities have met that standard.
 
“I think it’s been worth it,” Schermann said. “The payoff is definitely worth it.”
 
LPS students are multiplying their math knowledge at elementary, middle and high school levels every day. Visit home.lps.org/math to view descriptions of elementary and secondary math courses and access many helpful math tools.
 
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