Moonwalking - Robot Style!

Having opportunities for students to think critically, communicate those thoughts, and collaborate with a partner in real-world situations provides ample learning opportunities. This month is Space Month and 4th grade students have spent the month learning about the different moons in the solar system. The goal was to use robots to take a moonwalk on a scaled floor model of the planets and a few specific moons. The robots stopped at each of the designated moons, told an interesting fact about the moon, and then moved to the next moon. The coding objective was to create a block coding program where the robot traveled to all the moons and the iPad spoke the facts.

(Photo Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub)

The kids did a phenomenal job! They had to communicate and collaborate with their partner while critically thinking and using creative means to achieve their objective - visit all the moons. They ran into several real-world problems, such as running into each other's robots. Running into each other simulated how scientists have to plan for the satellites in Earth's orbit, asteroids, and other assorted objects in space. Another common problem was tracking their robot in the mass of other robots. This problem simulated how scientists and engineers keep track of objects sent into space.

(Video Credits: Vicki's Tech Hub)

At the end of each session, students broke down their successes and frustrations and offered suggestions to each other on how to fix the frustrations. It was amazing to see the creative and practical ways students solved their problems. One frustration that was discussed on day one was trying to track their robots across the floor as all the robots collated into a large pack. One suggestion from a particularly successful group was to change the matrix animation to an original design. Then, they placed the matrix animation block as the first line of the program and set it to loop so that the entire time the program ran, the original animation showed on the robot. The group with the idea taught everyone how to create an animation at the beginning of day 2.

I took a leap of faith in planning this lesson, knowing it was going to be difficult for students. They had never taken on anything of this scale with the robots and programming. However, I was encouraged to try based on their past history with coding and their perseverance and tenacity when it comes to difficult things. This group of students will do amazing things as they grow up!

So, what are you waiting for? Take a leap of faith and try something that will be difficult for your students. Who knows what amazing surprises await you!

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