Tales of a Third Grade Robot

Frankly, I debated a bit about which robots to use with the 3rd graders this cycle, the robo-mice or the Ozobots. In the end I decided that, though the programming would be challenging for many of them, to go with the Ozobots. These smaller-than-a-golf-ball robots have 5 optical sensors in their undercarriage. The robot uses these sensors to follow dark lines against a light background as well as to read color codes that initiate a variety of pre-programmed behaviors. The Ozobot can also be programmed using blockly (as in Code.org), but I opted not to introduce that with 3rd grade.

Students began with an introduction to the Ozobot and how to handle it correctly. Then I gave them some time to explore its use with the games and code stickers in the starter kit. The second day I distributed markers and a guide to all of the color codes that Ozobots can read. Teams practiced drawing good lines and neat codes on the back of scrap paper. This hand drawing was where I anticipated students having the most difficulty and that concern was not unfounded. Ozobot is sort of flexible about lines and codes, but not too much. The sensors lose sight of lines that are too thin, and color codes that are not uniform do not register as codes. Students with a natural inclination towards neatness were creating great codes in no time, while others needed a bit of practice. Eventually everyone was able to create a line with several embedded codes that worked.

Once the classes had gotten to know the Ozobot and the codes, I assigned puzzles for them to solve. At first these were printed and placed in a plastic sleeve and student teams used the code stickers from the kit to test their solutions. This saved paper and made debugging a much simpler process. I gradually increased the complexity of the puzzles, some of which had multiple solutions. Finally, we conducted an experiment to determine if the turn choices made by the Ozobots were indeed random.

To conclude the unit, students were challenged with a language arts themed project. Their task was to use the Ozobot and a team created story map to retell a familiar story. I showed a couple of examples and lead a discussion of how different codes might be used in different stories. For example, use the "nitro boost" for Goldilocks running from the bears, or "tornado" when the wolf blows down each little pig's house. Each team was allowed to choose whatever story they wished and used the design process recording sheet to brainstorm, plan, and document the creation of their map and pathway codes. Groups had 3-4 days for this project, so they had to make the most of their time. 

Not every group was able to get a polished story map and presentation created within the time constraint. Some teams were overly ambitious and took on too long a story. Others got carried away with background details and neglected to adequately test their lines and codes so that when it came time to present, the Ozobot did not behave as intended. Regardless, of exactly how much they got done, each team did an amazing job of working through the parts of the design process. Time may have prevented some from finishing, but everyone learned something about project management which I saw in the unit reflections they submitted.