Session 5

Bee Bot activity

This session is best delivered in a big space like the school hall

Warm-up

• Spend some time reviewing the vocabulary from recent sessions - algorithm, command, program, decomposition, input, output etc

• Mirror the Bee Bot app to your screen. Complete 2 or 3 levels with the children's assistance, relating everything done to the terminology above

• Give children some time to complete as many levels as they can - those wanting a challenge can have a go at the 'sheep herding' levels

A-maze-ing!

• In a large space, like the school hall, split children into groups of 4/5 with a Bee Bot each, some masking tape or similar and something to write/type on. They'll also need something to use as 'start' and 'finish' points. Small PE cones work really well

• Using the masking tape, they are to create a course for their Bee Bot that has a minimum of 4 turns built in (depending on the group of children, this can be set up beforehand by teaching staff if more time is required on the actual coding elements of the session) as well as a 'start' and 'finish' point

• Once courses are complete, children are given a certain amount of time to work out the algorithm to get their Bee Bot from start to finish in one go

• If/when they are successful here, rotate the groups so that children get to have a go at completing each other's courses

• Take every opportunity to reinforce the language from above