Summer Robotics 1 Wrap Up

Robotics 1 was so full of energy on day 2!  I love how they learned enough from day 1 to be able to jump right in to playing and exploring on day 2. One of the hardest parts of learning to use Edison is simply remembering which buttons to push and when in order to control him.  I was impressed with this group of kids coming right back into it and helping each other remember how to scan the program barcodes and make it play. 

 Day 2 of Robotics 1 reviews the three main parts of a robot (computer, sensors, actuators) and compares robots to remote controlled toys.  We had such a fun discussion about if certain machines were robots or just machines.  Then, we played with a remote controlled car and remote controlled dinosaur.  We mostly tried to make them fight each other.  That seemed like the obvious choice.  There were so many giggles and so much energy it was contagious. 

 After discussing robots versus remote controlled toys and machines we moved into programming more with Edison.  We programmed him to follow a light and to drive on a black line. We broke into teams and created maps for Edison to drive on. The kids worked so cooperatively on this project.

 At the end of the day we learned to have Edison bounce within drawn borders and then sumo wrestle another robot.  To wrap up our camp we talked about all the different things we learned and shared our favorite parts of the camp. We had an absolute blast learning and exploring robots together.  Every student took their robot home at the end of the day along with their workbook of barcodes.  I've already heard back from families that were amazed how much their child came home and talked their ears off about robots!

Thank you to this wonderful class for coming to play with me!

Summer Robotics 1

Teaching robotics is incredibly fun and because the kids are so engaged it's easy to guide them to explore all the things a new robot can do.  Camp started with everyone drawing what they would create if they were building a robot.  Then we shared our creations with the whole group.  Next we talked about what we knew about robots, what we wanted to learn about robots, and then did actual learning about the robots.

 I introduced our amazing Edison Bots from MeetEdison.com and showed the kids a picture of all the parts and controls before giving out robots.  We learned to unbox them safely (don't drop it!) and then explored all the buttons.

 Next we learned about coding the Edison Bot.  For this class we're using pre-planned code that is in barcode form.  We learned how Edison can scan the barcode and how we have to push play/go/start to make him perform the code.  Our first code was to have Edison respond to sound.  One clap and Edison would turn a quarter turn, two claps and Edison would drive forward a short distance.  This became super fun when we set up races against each other.  The second code that we programmed Edison to do was to avoid obstacles.  We put our hands and even our arms around Edison and found that he was trapped.  He'd get close to a "wall" and then back up and turn around to try a different direction.

 Even awesome roboticists need a big PE recess break.  After having snacks and climbing around in the backyard we were back at it again with the avoid obstacles code.  We used Legos to build walls and barriers for our robots.  Toward the end of our day each child was able to make an origami paper robot.  That was the quietest moment of our whole three hours together :). 

The last program that we taught Edison was to follow a flashlight.  We talked about where the sensors are and how the program works before setting kids free in the dark with flashlights and their Edison bots.  I think everyone had a fantastic time and I can't wait until Thursday!

Robotics 1 - Day 2 - Spring Break 2018

Spring Break Robotics 1 was so full of energy this morning.  I love how they learned enough from day 1 to be able to jump right in to playing and exploring on day 2.One of the hardest parts of learning to use Edison is simply remembering which buttons to push and when in order to control him.  I was impressed with this group of kids coming right back into it and helping each other remember how to scan the program barcodes and make it play. 

Day 2 of Robotics 1 reviews the three main parts of a robot (computer, sensors, actuators) and compares robots to remote controlled toys.  We had such a fun discussion about if certain machines were robots or just machines.  The most lively discussion was about if phones are robots or not.  Even adults can't agree on that one (smart phones do technically have all three components of robots). During this discussion one of the 7 year old boys said, "I've been studying this stuff for years now." It was a good chuckle.  

After discussing robots versus remote controlled toys and machines we moved into programming more with Edison.  We programmed him to follow a light and to drive on a black line. We broke into teams and created maps for Edison to drive on. The kids worked so cooperatively on this project and the three completely different ideas for maps amazed me: a farm/city, a science house, and Egypt.

At the end of the day we learned to have Edison bounce within drawn borders and then sumo wrestle another robot.  To wrap up our camp we completed our KWL page that we started on day one and wrote down all the things we learned. We had an absolute blast learning and exploring robots together.  Every student took their robot home at the end of the day along with their workbook of barcodes.  I've already heard back from families that were amazed how much their child came home and talked their ears off about robots!

Thank you to this wonderful class for coming and playing with us!

Robotics 1 - Spring Break 2018 - Day 1

WOW!  We had so much fun this morning at our first day of Robotics camp.  It is so fun to be the teacher of such an exciting and engaging class with kids that are practically jumping out of their skin with excitement to be learning and exploring.

 We started off our camp talking about what robots are.  Each person drew and potentially wrote about their own creative robot ideas.  We filled out a few lines about what we already knew about robots and what we'd like to learn about robots.  Then we shared our work with each other.  I love the sharing part because we're able to welcome each class member by name and listen to their ideas.  This builds community quickly in a camp, which is super important!

 When each child received their own robot their "oohs" and "awes" were so energizing!  They couldn't wait to get started but first we needed a little snack and recess.

 Robotics 1 is amazing because it makes robotics completely accessible to all ages.  I love how the Edison Robots can start at this basic level of reading barcodes to run programs and develop through drag and drop programming languages and into Python (an industry standard today). Our first barcode programs for Edison included clap controlled driving and avoiding obstacles. 

The giggles and excitement throughout the day were so contagious!  We had so much fun learning and exploring together!  I can't wait to see these guys again and show them more cool tricks that they can do with their robots. 

A peek inside our camp classroom (*please note that every time the sound is cut out of the video it's done on purpose to protect student identity)

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Robotics Level 1 is a starting place for students with little or no experience with robotics. Students learn what a robot is and how it is different from remote controlled toys. Students explore different programs that let them manipulate their own robot.  No coding is required of the students at this level.  Interested in joining us for Summer Camp Robotics 1?