Overview

Grades

K+ (Ages 4+)

Time

40 minutes per lab

Unit Essential Question(s)

How can I code a robot to solve a problem?

Unit Understandings

The following concepts will be covered throughout this Unit:

How to code the 123 Robot to detect objects and perform behaviors based on what is detected.
That the Eye Sensor can be used to detect objects and their color.

Lab Summary

Click on the following tabs for a summary of what the students will do and learn in each lab.

Lab 1 - Drive to Grandmother's

Students will have the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” retold to them, and will then turn their 123 Robots into a “Little Red Robot” character. After hearing the story, students will create a project to drive their 123 Robot to Grandmother’s house using Coder cards.
Students will then move the starting point of the 123 Robot and build new projects to drive Little Red Robot to Grandmother’s house. They will test different combinations of “Drive 1,” “Drive 2,” and “Drive 4” Coder cards with the new starting point.
Students will share their new projects and discuss how they decided which Coder cards to use.

Lab 2 - Watch out for the Wolf!

Students will be introduced to the “Drive until object” Coder card and watch a demonstration of how this card instructs the Little Red Robot to drive until it sees an object. Then, students will test this project in their groups and consider how the Little Red Robot can tell when it arrives at Grandmother’s house.
Students will learn about the Eye Sensor in the 123 Robot and how this sensor works with the “Drive until object” Coder card. The teacher will then introduce the Wolf character from the “Little Red Riding Hood” story.
Students will learn that the Eye Sensor does not know what it sees, only that it sees something. They will expand on their project to include a Coder card, so that when the Little Red Robot spots the Wolf, it can scare the Wolf away. Students will then share their projects with the class and talk about why they chose to scare the Wolf with that particular Coder card.

Lab 3 - Wolf Detecting Algorithm

Students will start by discussing how the 123 Robot could identify what object it detects. Through discussion, they will learn about the Eye Sensor’s ability to detect color. Students will be introduced to the “If red” Coder card. The teacher will demonstrate how to use this card to detect the red Wolf and scare the Wolf away.
Students will learn about how the information from the sensor can be used to make a decision. They will be introduced to the “Else” and “End if” Coder cards and create a project where the Little Red Robot performs one behavior if the color red is detected, and another if it is not detected.
Students will discuss how the Eye Sensor and Coder cards work together to cause the robot to make a decision. They then are introduced to the idea of an algorithm, where the robot will repeatedly make a decision. Students add the “Go to start” Coder card to their project to build their algorithms.

Unit Standards

Unit Standards will be addressed in every Lab within the Unit.

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

ISTE - (7) Global Collaborator - 7c: Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

How Standard is Achieved: In Lab 1, students work together to add a decoration to their 123 Robot using the Art Ring, to turn their 123 Robot into the "Little Red Robot". They will collaborate in their groups to build a project that drives the 123 Robot from the start to Grandmother’s house.

In Lab 2, students will take turns in their groups moving the Little Red Robot from one starting location to another in order to test the “Drive until object” Coder card. They will then collaborate with their group to create a project where the Little Red Robot scares away the Wolf after it is spotted.

In Lab 3, students will take turns in their groups setting up the Little Red Robot and the red Wolf to test their projects using the "If red", "Else", and "End if" Coder cards. In Play Part 2, they will build upon their projects to test out their 'Wolf Detecting Algorithm', taking turns to set up and test the project, and to choose additional Coder cards to add to their algorithm to make the Little Red Robot react differently to the red Wolf and Grandmother's house.

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

CSTA 1A-AP-10: Develop programs with sequences and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem

How Standard is Achieved: In Lab 1, students create a project that drives the 123 Robot to Grandmother's house using different sequences of "Drive" Coder cards to drive to the same location from different starting points.

In Lab 2, students are introduced to selection, with the Eye Sensor on the 123 Robot. They create and test projects using the "Drive until object" Coder card to have the 123 Robot drive until it reaches Grandmother's house in Play Part 1. In Play Part 2, students will add Coder cards to the their projects in the correct sequence to have the robot drive until it detect the Wolf, then perform an action to scare it away.

In Lab 3, students build on their projects form the previous Lab, to incorporate "If red", "Else", and "End if" Coder cards to code the 123 Robot to drive until an object is detected, and perform different behaviors based on the color detected. They are introduced to iteration as they add a "Go to start" Coder card to their projects, to create a 'Wolf Detecting Algorithm' that can both scare away the red Wolf and announce their arrival at Grandmother's house.

< Return to Labs Next >