Introduction

Begin the lesson in the classroom. Recap the last two lessons. What was the main difference between what we did in the first week and last week? Recap the work on sequencing.  Look at an example together on the IWB with 2Go. Get the children to discuss with a partner and predict the route needed on their whiteboards. Take their suggestions to plot the route with the flow chart, test then debug it if needed.

 

 

 

Introduce a Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot. Go through how a Bee-Bot works with all children.

 

 

Look at the differences between Bee-bots and 2Go (turning left and right as opposed to moving left and right)  Emphasise the importance of the X (CLEAR) button which erases the previous instructions from the Bee-Bot's memory.

 

What does each turn mean to a Bee-Bot? How far is that turn? (90 degrees/ quarter turn) Get the children to stand up and practise turning left and right in quarter turns: If I’m facing the whiteboard and do a quarter turn to the left which way will I be facing? If I’m facing the windows and do two quarter turns to the right, which way will I face? etc

We want the children to be confident with left and right, and to have a feel for what a quarter turn looks and feels like.

 

Crocodile Swamp with turning

Next, repeat the Crocodile swamp activity from Lesson 1. Ask the children to move into a large circle on the carpet with plenty of space in the middle. Place one of the hut cards at the edge of the circle and another on the other side of the circle. Explain that you again want to visit your friend on the other side of the swamp past the crocs.

 

 

Explain that we are again going to blindfold a volunteer (that is happy to wear a blindfold) and attempt to guide them safely through the crocodile swamp without touching any crocs. However, this time we'll be using turning instead of side-steps. 

The only instructions we are allowed to give are:

• Forward .... (number of steps)
• Backwards  .... (number of steps)
• Left turn
• Right turn

Choose a volunteer and ask the class for their instructions, one at a time. Emphasise that left and right are the volunteer’s left and right and this might vary depending on which way they are facing. You might want to place L and R Post-it notes on their arms or hands to help the children. It's also useful to add a 'clear button' with another sticky note, or a card hung around their neck, to mimic the Bee-bots. In between each instruction the children give, remind them to press the clear button to  clear the memory of our human Bee-Bot. 

Focus on the quality and clarity of their instructions and ensuring they are using turn left and turn right.  Ensure the blindfolded people only do what they have been told and don’t interpret the instructions.

Like last time, make a list of each instruction given on a whiteboard or flip chart. When the volunteer makes it across the swamp, review the algorithm created with the class. Were they good instructions? Did we do well with the turns? Could we improve the algorithm? Could we reduce the number of instructions in our algorithm?  Again, look out for repeated consecutive instructions such as "three steps forward" followed by "2 steps forward". Show how these could be combined and replaced by "five steps forward".

 

Here come the Bee-Bots

Put your children into small groups dependant on the number of Bee-Bots and other equipment you have available.

Students can initially have some time to experiment with their Bee-Bot, getting used to CLEAR and making it do quarter turns left and right. They can then build simple mazes with whatever you have available and work together to guide the Bee-Bot through the maze (remembering to press clear in between each command).

 

 

When they have completed their first maze, change its design (keep it quite simple). To extend, get them to plot the route on paper/whiteboard before trying it. Just draw out the sequence of instructions, for example:

If you're struggling to get enough physical programmable robots together, you can combine what you have with some virtual options, available as apps. Here are a few suggestions:

 

iPad options

 

Bee-Bot app

If you have iPads available in your school, you may wish to split the class in half; one half working with actual Bee-Bot, the other half working with the Bee-Bot app on the iPads to see how many levels they can successfully complete.  

 

 

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Blue-Bot app

The  Blue-Bot app is also great for reinforcing skills and knowledge that students may have learned using either of those physical devices. 

The app contains lots of virtual versions of the plastic mats that you can buy for your Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots, plus you can load in your own images. Play a variety of challenge modes or give children the freedom to explore how it all works on their own. 

The app can also be used to link your iPad to your Blue-bot so the real thing will mimic the movements of the on-screen robot.

 

 

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A.L.E.X 

A.L.E.X is another iPad app very similar to the Bee-Bot app and also free. Like the Bee-Bot, you have to plan a sequence of commands to get through each level from start to finish, however in A.L.E.X you need to input the entire set of instructions before running the program (a bit like we did in 2Go), so it’s a bit more challenging.

 

 

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Plenary

Review their work at the end. What did they find difficult today? Was it easier last week or this week to predict the movements?  What are the difficulties of predicting turns?  Show me what a quarter turn right looks like, what does a quarter turn left look like?