Robotics and Coding Club Australia

Robotics and the 5 E's

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Introduction to Robotics Learning experience 1. Engage: On the interactive Smart board, activate the internet, enter the YouTube website and type ‘NXT’’ into the search engine. Play a clip (or 2) about NXT from YouTube that the learners think looks interesting. Allow learners to verbally share what they know about robots in society, Lego RCX and NXT Mindstorm robots. Make a list of the robots mentioned from the learners’ thoughts when discussing robots in society. What do they do? What are they used for? Why? Do the NXT robots simulate particular robots in the workforce? Share with the learners what will be expected of them throughout the investigation (how they will be assessed, what ways they will demonstrate their understandings, expectations of using equipment, safety etc). Allow learners to ‘play’ with the Lego kits and familiarize with each part. Learning experience 2. Explore: (takes more than one lesson) Take photographs and video footage of all the Lego robotics learning experiences so learners can use it to reflect in the ‘evaluation’ phase. Hands on learning, shared learning about Lego robotics sensors and the way a Lego robot can sense its environment. 1. Explore the construction procedure manual supplied with the Lego kit with your learners. Give learners a role for the lesson: construction worker, seeker, manager of procedure. Instruct learners to follow the building procedure to build a 2-motor robotic vehicle. Instruct learners to attach a touch sensor using the construction procedure. Explain the fundamentals of the Lego programme: the Common Block Palette, the buttons on the NXT brick, the download button, click/drag/drop etc. Hand out first challenge! To program a vehicle to move forwards for an unlimited amount of time until the touch sensor is pressed. 2. Instruct learners to change roles and attach a light sensor. Demonstrate how to ‘calibrate’ the light sensor in the program. Demonstrate how to find a light reading on the NXT brick. Explain reflected light readings: bigger than and smaller than symbols. Explain next challenge. Hand out 2nd challenge: to program a vehicle to move until it senses a black piece of tape that commands it to stop. 3. Instruct learners to change roles and independently ‘calibrate’ the light sensor on their robots. Observe for understandings. Use red tape and instruct learners to program their robot to sense red tape. Explain next challenge. Hand out 3rd challenge: to program a vehicle to follow the perimeter of a rectangle. 4. Instruct learners to change roles and calibrate the light sensor on their robots (if it’s a different day with a weather difference). Use tape to create a square on the floor with a 15 cm gap missing. Explain that this is a cage that your robot needs to escape. Instruct learners to use information that they have learnt to help their robot escape the ‘warehouse’ to freedom. Learning experience 3. Explain: To help learners demonstrate and explain their new understandings about Lego robotics. Open ended task: Explain the task: Robo-relay. Ask learners to explain how they could use some of the other sensors that they have not yet used. How do they think it will work? Why? Learning experience 4. Elaborate: To help learners conduct their own investigation. Open ended task: In what ways can we make a Lego robot vehicle change direction? Instruct learners to investigate the question and share what they learn with the class. Learning experience 5. Evaluate: Create a movie (teacher to create) using footage of the learners throughout the unit to provide feedback to them at the end of the unit. Time for learners to reflect on their learning during the investigation: Instruct learners to organise the photographs for each group into a group power-point (separately for each group). Instruct learners to use a shared amount of photographs to share what they have learnt throughout the investigation so each learner contributes to a verbal elaboration of what they now know. Display the photographs on the interactive Smart board as the learners reflect. Provide feedback to learners: Provide feedback to learners by showing them a documentary that you created in Windows movie maker, using the video footage you collated throughout the investigation. It doesn’t have to be too long just lots of fun. This helps the learners with non-verbal reflection.

Robotics Club, Founder: Shontelle Lewis, Bundaberg 4670. Queensland. Australia.