Our Philosophy

At the South Dakota Robotics Association, we feel that every child has the capacity for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). So much technology swirls around us everyday, phones and music players, book readers and computers. We're a plugged-in society. However, we've lost the wonder at the workings behind the technology and the love of engineering solutions to problems. Because of this, the US is losing engineers and scientists - and we're dropping behind the rest of the world. Science test scores are at an all time low for students in all grades, and they're slipping even more as students get older. Kids are losing an interest in STEM, viewing it as too hard. SDRA combats this disinterest in science by making it fun. Actually, it takes little to make science fun - very quickly the kids realize the intrinsic value and fun in doing and learning by experiment. Although it sounds tough, engineering really is exciting, and worthwhile.

Our classes focus on the basics for doing "good science." We practice accurate measurements, variable control, result verification, hypothesizing, and testing. Students explore the concepts for themselves, actually seeing how things work. Based on the understanding that different age groups learn differently, our instructional levels reinforce the basic science concepts and pair them with age-appropriate content. We're not just about playing with LEGO® building elements, we use those to engineer solutions to problems. The fun comes with the LEGO building, of course, but the students are surprised to find that the engineering and science is just as fun!

Check out our different instructional levels for more information on the curriculum.