SHARP Literacy Inc. Unveils Interactive Honey Bee Robot

First-grade students were the first to see a new interactive honey bee robot based on A Busy Bee: The Story of Bella the Honey Bee, a book recently published by SHARP Literacy Inc.  Tim DeLeo, an MSOE electrical engineering student, designed the robot to help children learn and have fun at the same time.

SHARP Literacy Inc and MSOE teamed up to develop the interactive robot as a learning tool for children in first through fifth grade who attend schools with SHARP Literacy curriculum. SHARP students helped create the book for which the robot was built. Funding for the robot was provided by Brady Corporation Foundation.

The 3-foot-tall honey bee robot has a 10.5-inch LCD display screen with an 11-button-capacity touch pad. Buttons can be depressed to ask questions, learn about bee parts, learn about the waggle dance and more. The robot's antennae and wings move, and the abdomen shakes, illustrating a bee's waggle dance. There are also LEDs on the mandibles, pollen basket and stinger. DeLeo Collaborated with internationally acclaimed local sculptor Tom Queoff who donated his time and developed a urethane mold of the bee that produced the translucent exterior or shell.

Every year, students who participate in the SHARP Literacy curriculum research different topics based on the SHARP educational board’s recommendation mandated by the state educational board. This past year, the board selected the theme of honey bees based on science and the life cycle of growing things. Five hundred students from 15 different Milwaukee-area schools researched bees and developed writing and drawing samples that were used to develop the 10th book in the We Love to Learn book series titled, A Busy Bee: The Story of Bella the Honey Bee. Once a book is developed, it becomes a part of the school curriculum. This year’s book will be included in the 2013 curriculum for first-grade students.

SHARP Literacy’s program is tailored to help first- through fifth-grade students build reading, writing and researching skills by using the visual arts as the primary tool for learning. According to Lynda Kohler, Executive Director of SHARP, “Adding interactive robots and visual stimulation helps children learn and retain information more readily because they are immersed in the process.”