Bluebots lesson in action

BLUE BOTS

I taught several lessons throughout the Junior school.  We looked at how we could use the previous lessons we had covered on algorithm and coding and linked them to using the blue bots.

The children were very excited to watch the bots move after they had programmed to do so.  We worked together as a class first to practise finding the right way to get to certain shapes.
We then worked in pairs to master the step of the bug dance after we had read the story.  We lined all the bots up together to see which ones were able to successfully complete the dance.

Minecraft- Eco friendly house

Room 2 have been learning about Future proofing our world.  Their challenge is to investigate innovations in building that help to save energy and protect the environment.  In pairs or on their own they have brainstormed some ideas and they are using minecraft to build a new home that uses some of these techniques.

Some of the ideas they had to think about included:
-  water supply- to drink, use and irrigate, travel
- animal farm- to eat, use produce
- solar panels
- heating source- insulation and underfloor heating
- gardens- food source
- Green building materials- natural, from a local source
- Colour choices for heat absorptions and reflection
- position of places to the sun
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Virtual Reality- space walk

Room 8 got to experience a space walk onboard the ISS.  They had to climb up and undo the hatch to venture outside into space where they had to fix and repair parts of the spaceship.  They also had an amazing view looking above from space where they took photos with their Gopro cameras.

It was a very cool, life like experience that they really enjoyed.

AR Quiver Planet

Room 8 have been learning about space. They created their own planet, thinking about what colours they use and how they relate to their planet.  e.g- water= blue, land= earth.
We discussed what other things they could add to their planet such as volcanoes, mountains etc.
They then gave their planet a suitable name.  Once they had coloured in their sphere they then used the trigger on Quiver to make their planet come to life.
They then recorded themselves reading their story about their planet on seesaw.

Makey Makey

This was the first initial lesson using Makey Makey with Year 4.  It was a time to experiment while having fun and problem solving while working together with a partner,

CoSpace

CoSpace 

Our school recently purchased a VR headset.  This was only been used by a handful of students as part of a writing initiative.  I was keen to come up with a way for it to be utilised more by all of the school.  The middle syndicate were designing a playground for the local park.

CoSpace is a 3D world where you can upload images or create and build images using objects.  You can then code your objects and view it on a VR headset.

Click on the link to see how the lesson was taught and introduced through a story book first

Lesson Plan

Robotics

This was an intro lesson to using Robotics with Year 5.  They had a lot of fun taking control of them.  They worked together to problem solve how to:

-code a robot to follow a line

-  navigate a robot to go on an obstacle course

- race another robot

- accurately steer a robot to pop a balloon

The Perfect Square

Student learning outcomes

(LEVEL 1): Students will learn how to:

• break the problem down into a set of precise instructions.
• show the steps in sequence by order in which it happened
• Use directional language such as L<R and is able to draw arrows to support

Algorithm Grid template - the students used pencil and paper to write their arrows

Using a square origami paper the students then went ahead and created their own picture.

(LEVEL 2): Students will learn how to:

• decompose a problem into a set of step-by-step instructions (algorithm)
• create a program in a simple programming environment based on this algorithm 
• test there program, using a simple debugging strategy to fix the errors she finds.

Algorithm Grid template - the older students did theirs on their drives.  Manipulating the arrows by moving them around the right way to show the sequence.

Maui and the Sun

Maui and the sun- lesson plan

Introducing algorithm to the Junior school was done through an unplugged lesson.  After reading the legend we went outside and using masks for roleplay we retraced the steps Maui took to reach the sun, picking up flax on the way.

Using whiteboards they took turns at been the robot and the programmer.  We worked together to debug our errors if we didn't make it to the sun.