Exploration of Robots: Coding mBot for a Purpose (Grades 6-8)
Students answer questions such as, “What can a robot do?” and “How can a robot be coded to do so?” Students learn to code in the mBlockly application and program their own mBot robots for a specific purpose.
Students answer questions such as, “What can a robot do?” and “How can a robot be coded to do so?” Students learn to code in the mBlockly application and program their own mBot robots for a specific purpose.
Course Description
Level One
- Students will learn what a robot is, as well as explore the ways in which robots are affecting our lives today. Students will design a robot to solve a real-life problem.
- Students will explore the components and features of the mBot. Students will also assemble the mBot
- Students will learn what a sequence and algorithm are. They will also participate in some coding activities that do not require a device
- Students will use an increasing number of features in mBlock Blockly to program my mBot.
- Students can improvise and use creativity to find solutions to programming challenges.
Examples of Some Standards Addressed
NGSS
3-5-ETS1-2 Constructing explanations and designing solutions in 3–5 progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
Science and Engineering Practices
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem.
Crosscutting Concepts
Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World Engineers improve existing technologies or develop new ones to increase their benefits, decrease known risks, and meet societal demands.
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints.