Objective: 

Students will design and test a paper robot to navigate a confined space, controlling its movement by creating and testing step-by-step instructions while considering failure points to refine their design.

Materials Needed: 

• Paper cutouts of robots

• Pre-drawn grid on large paper (to represent the confined space), markers

• Sticky notes for failure points

• Instructions cards.

Steps:

• Introduction: 

  • The teacher introduces the concept of designing a system to control a robot’s movement within a confined space. 

  • Students learn they will plan and test a set of movement commands (e.g., forward, left, right), focusing on identifying and refining failure points if the robot "hits" a wall or moves beyond the grid.

• Activity: 

  • In groups, students design step-by-step movement instructions for their paper robots, decomposing the task into smaller movements (e.g., move forward 2 steps, turn left). 

  • They then test their instructions on the grid. If their robot moves past a wall or obstacle, students use sticky notes to mark failure points. 

  • Afterward, they debug by refining their commands to avoid these errors. 

  • Each group continues testing and refining their instructions until their robot successfully navigates the space without hitting any walls.

• Presentation: 

  • Each group presents their final robot path, explaining how they identified failure points and improved their movement commands.

• Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts: 

  • Students test their movement instructions and refine them to ensure the robot stays within the confined space.

Equity and Access: 

Provide templates with basic instructions for students needing extra guidance. Pair students of varying skill levels to promote peer collaboration.

Real-World Connection: 

Discuss how engineers test and refine instructions for self-driving cars to ensure they avoid obstacles and operate safely.

CS Practice(s): 

• Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems: Students identify where their instructions lead to failure and correct those issues. 

Standard(s): 

• CA NGSS 3-5-ETS1-3

• CA CS 3-5.AP.17

Objective: 

Students will collaborate to program a robot (e.g., Sphero or LEGO Mindstorms) to navigate a confined space, testing and debugging the program to ensure the robot responds correctly to obstacles and avoids walls.

Materials Needed: 

• Physical robots (Sphero, LEGO Mindstorms, or similar)

• tablets or computers with coding software

• pre-marked obstacle course on the floor (using tape or barriers).

Steps:

• Introduction: 

  • The teacher introduces the concept of programming physical robots to navigate a confined space, explaining that students will write code to control the robot’s movement while preventing it from moving beyond the boundaries. 

  • He emphasizes the importance of testing and debugging the program when errors occur.

• Activity: 

  • In pairs, students program the robot using a block-based coding language. 

  • They start by coding simple movements like "move forward," "turn left," and "stop." 

  • The goal is to navigate the robot through a taped obstacle course without hitting walls. Students test their robot, observing where it hits obstacles or goes out of bounds. 

  • They then debug the program by adjusting the movement blocks or adding conditional statements (e.g., “if robot detects obstacle, stop”). 

  • Students use an iterative process to test the robot and refine their code until the robot successfully navigates the entire course without errors.

• Presentation: 

  • Each group demonstrates their robot’s path through the obstacle course, explaining how they identified and debugged failure points in their program to improve its accuracy.

Equity and Access: 

Provide basic movement programs for students needing additional support, and encourage peer collaboration by pairing students with different coding experience levels.

Real-World Connection: 

Relate this activity to real-world applications, such as how robotics engineers test and debug delivery robots to navigate warehouses or autonomous vehicles to avoid obstacles on the road.

CS Practice(s): 

• Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts: Students test and debug their robot’s program, refining it through trial and error.

• Creating Computational Artifacts: Students create and modify a functional program to control the robot’s movements.

Standard(s):

• CA NGSS 3-5-ETS1-3

• CA CS 3-5.AP.17