Blog Posts

Activity: T-Bot® offers leverage for exploring simple machines

Posted by Admin on January 19, 2022

A great physical science education tool isn’t just exciting while you’re using it; it continues to provoke thought and make real-world connections well after you’ve placed it back on the shelf. Case in point: I recently spent time exploring Pitsco’s T-Bot® Hydraulic Arm. It was a fun challenge using the hydraulic robot arm to pick up and move blocks, and I thought about links to automation and heavy machinery as I used it. But, to my surprise, after I put the device away, what I really couldn’t stop thinking about was my own arm.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Middle School, Elementary School, High School, ROBOTICS, Teacher Resources, Science, Technology, STEM, Authentic Learning, Activities, Hands-on Learning

Using Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for personal growth as a teacher

Posted by Admin on December 06, 2021

(Authored by Jim Brown and James Jones, members of The Ambassador Group for Pitsco Education.)

Teachers of all grade levels face challenges on a daily basis, from elementary teachers tasked with teaching young students to read and recognize shapes and sounds to middle school teachers working with students who are beginning to gain more independence and figuring out their place in the world to high school teachers trying to prepare burgeoning adults for the real world.

In order to help students grow intellectually and emotionally, and to continue meeting their thirst for knowledge, we ourselves must stay thirsty – for knowledge, understanding, and new ways of teaching and reaching our students.

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Topics: Middle School, Elementary School, High School, BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Teacher Resources, Collaborations, Resources, Careers, Teacher Development, Professional Development, Conferences

5 easy steps to start teaching drones

Posted by Admin on September 14, 2021

Drones, small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), are becoming essential tools in a wide range of industries. Agriculture, construction, real estate, filmmaking, surveying, infrastructure inspection, supply chain management, and law enforcement have all felt the impact of this technology. Naturally, this presents a golden opportunity for career and technical education.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Competitions, Teacher Resources, Technology, STEM, Trends, Resources, Engineering, Teacher Development, USAR, Activities, 21st Century Skills, Hands-on Learning

Five faves about Fable Spin: Why this robot is a top choice for the classroom

Posted by Deidre Galloway on August 31, 2021

One of the coolest parts about my job at Pitsco is that I get to play with all of our products. OK, you’re right, around here we call it professional development. As a customer support specialist, I have to know how our products work so I can help customers with their questions. However, with as much fun as I have with our products, it might as well be recess for me. One product that I’ve gotten to know well over the last year is the Fable Spin Module by Shape Robotics. In this blog, I’m going to cover my top five favorite things about the Fable Spin.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, ROBOTICS, Teacher Resources, Technology, Resources, Coding, Hands-on Learning

Aviation Day: The history of flight

Posted by Jessica Witman on August 19, 2021

National Aviation Day is August 19. It seems only right to celebrate the marvel that is aviation. We are living in a world where you can fly from one side of the country to the other in a matter of hours, take romantic hot-air balloon rides, have family fun on windy days flying kites, watch real-time space flights never before thought of, and have a drone deliver packages to your door. But to understand how we got to this point, we need to look into the past.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Teacher Resources, Science, STEM, Engineering, Hands-on Learning, Physics