---
title: Created for Educators, By Educators
description: We’re excited about the potential for the gator:boards and micro:bit to bring middle school science to life. These boards were created as part of an NSF-funded grant.
image: https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hubfs/FRIDAY_NEWSLETTER/2019/September/gator-logo.jpg
---

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# Created for Educators, By Educators

BY [Megan Hemmings](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/author/megan-hemmings) 9/10/19 6:25 AM

[0](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/created-for-educators-by-educators#comments-listing)

[teaching tools](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/teaching-tools), [micro:bit](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/topic/microbit)

![](https://blog.sparkfuneducation.com/hubfs/EDU/BLOG%20Images/Feb%202017/Cool%20Hemmings.jpg)

With the release of the latest [gator:boards for micro:bit](https://sparkfuneducation.com/maker-education/gatorboards.html) - [gator:log](https://sparkfuneducation.com/products/gator-log.html), [gator:RTC](https://sparkfuneducation.com/products/gator-rtc.html) and [gator:UV](https://sparkfuneducation.com/products/gator-uv.html) - we’re more excited than ever about the potential for the gator:boards to bring middle school science to life. These boards (plus 4 other sensors) were created in partnership with Denver Public Schools and the SchoolWide Labs Project out of the University of Colorado, Boulder as part of a larger, NSF-funded grant.

Want to know more about why the gator:boards were created, why these sensors specifically and the results so far? Watch the video below to hear it straight from the team that dreamed them up.

As part of the overall project, the SchoolWide Labs team is also sharing the curriculum they create based on their research. The first unit they’ve made available is focused on bringing magnetism to life using “models and micro:bit sensors to investigate magnetic fields created by simple magnets, electrical circuits, and electromagnets to gather evidence to explain how a maglev train functions.”

This three-week storyline unit is aligned to NGSS standards and [available here](https://www.colorado.edu/program/inquiryhub/curricula/maglev-trains-schoolwide-labs).

[![Make Your Instruction Magnetic](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2224003/e4dce58b-43e2-41fc-b9a5-c04b7bdeb11c.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2224003/e4dce58b-43e2-41fc-b9a5-c04b7bdeb11c)

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