Podcast
Building a 3D Neighborhood Map
Students gather around tables filled with colorful building blocks, toy cars, and small figures. The lesson begins as they discuss what makes up a neighborhood, with students naming homes, schools, parks, and fire stations. The teacher explains that today they will build their own 3D models of neighborhoods using these materials. Divided into small groups, the students work together to position each structure, using terms like "left," "right," "near," and "far" to describe where to place each building and road.
As the models take shape, the groups carefully draw simple 2D maps, labeling each building and road, making sure their drawings match the positions of the buildings in their 3D models. The teacher then leads a discussion about how maps help us navigate our environment, linking this to how computers use spatial data to create maps and models, similar to what the students did in their activity.
Objective:
Students will build a 3D model of a neighborhood using blocks and other classroom materials to understand the layout and structure of a community. Through this activity, they will learn how to use positional terms such as near, far, left, and right, and will practice distinguishing between different structures in a neighborhood.
Materials Needed:
Building blocks, toy cars, small figures (representing buildings, roads, and people)
Chart paper or whiteboard for recording observations
Markers for drawing simple maps
Steps:
Introduction:
Ask the class, "What does a neighborhood look like?" Discuss the important places found in neighborhoods, such as homes, schools, fire stations, and parks.
Explain that students will build a 3D model of a neighborhood using blocks and classroom materials, positioning the buildings and roads correctly using terms like near, far, left, and right.
Group Activity:
Divide students into small groups and provide each group with blocks and other materials to construct their neighborhood model.
They will work together to build key landmarks such as houses, schools, and parks.
As they build, they will use positional terms to describe the relative location of each structure.
For example, "The fire station is to the left of the grocery store," or "The school is far from the park."
Building the Map:
As students work, guide them in positioning the buildings correctly using the directional terms discussed.
Encourage them to think about the real-world layout of neighborhoods and how different places are connected by roads and pathways.
Students can also create small roads using construction paper or toy cars to show how people move around the neighborhood.
Encourage students to think about how real-world maps are created to help people navigate and how maps simplify complex environments into more abstract representations, similar to how computers simplify and organize data.
Recording and Refining:
Once students have completed their 3D models, they will draw a simple 2D map of their neighborhood, labeling each building and road.
They will check their models and maps to ensure accuracy, refining their descriptions as needed.
Presentation and Discussion:
Each group will present their 3D model and corresponding map, describing the layout and using positional terms to explain the relationship between buildings.
Lead a discussion about how maps help us understand and navigate spaces in the real world, comparing their activity to how computers use spatial data and mapping algorithms to solve problems like route planning and urban design.
Equity and Access:
Provide a variety of building materials to ensure all students can participate, and offer peer support to help students who may need assistance with spatial reasoning or construction.
Real-World Application:
Connect the activity to real-world scenarios where maps are used, such as navigating a new city, understanding a subway map, or organizing a building's floor plan. Discuss how understanding spatial relationships is essential in many professions, including architecture, urban planning, and technology development.
CS Practice(s):
Developing and Using Abstractions: Students abstract real-world neighborhoods by representing them with building blocks and maps, making the concept of spatial organization concrete and understandable.
Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems: Students organize and model real-world spaces, identifying how objects and locations relate to one another, similar to how computers define and solve spatial problems using algorithms and data.
Standard(s):
CA History-Social Science K.4.1
CA History-Social Science K.4.4
CA CS K-2.AP.13
Creating Digital Neighborhood Maps
Students discuss locations in their neighborhood as the teacher draws icons to represent each on chart paper. The teacher indicates students will use Scratch Jr. to create their own interactive animations on maps of their local area. The teacher demonstrates how to drag and drop characters, like cars and people, onto a digital canvas, showing how to create roads, parks, and buildings to form a neighborhood. The teacher adds coding blocks to make a car drive down a road or a person walk across a park, explaining how coding sequences direct the movements of each character.
Students work in pairs to design their own animated neighborhood maps. One group programs a fire truck to move from the station to a house, while another group creates a bus that stops at the school. As they animate their maps, students use directional terms like "left," "right," "up," and "down" to position and move the characters. After testing their animations and refining their code, each group presents their animated map, explaining how they used ScratchJr to make their neighborhood come to life. The teacher wraps up the lesson by discussing how sequencing and coding are essential to organizing and navigating spaces, both in the real world and in the digital environment.
Objective:
Students will use ScratchJr or another coding platform to create animated maps of neighborhoods, including key features such as homes, schools, parks, and roads. Through this activity, students will learn to use coding blocks to create sequences that animate movement, practicing computational thinking by organizing and directing characters on their map.
Materials Needed:
Tablets or computers with digital media creation app
Digital icons for buildings, roads, parks, and other neighborhood features
Steps:
Introduction:
Ask the class, "What makes up a neighborhood?" Discuss key places like homes, schools, parks, fire stations, and roads.
Introduce ScratchJr and explain that students will create a digital neighborhood map where they can animate cars, people, and animals moving around their map.
Explain that, just like in real life, everything in the neighborhood needs to be in the correct place, and we need to use coding sequences to make characters move in specific directions.
Group Activity:
Divide students into pairs, and assign each group to design a digital neighborhood map using ScratchJr.
They will drag and drop icons representing houses, schools, and parks, and draw roads to connect them.
After designing their map, students will program their characters to move using ScratchJr’s coding blocks. For example, they can make a car drive down the street or a person walk to the park.
Encourage students to use positional terms like "left," "right," "up," and "down" to describe the movement of their characters.
Creating and Coding:
Guide students in adding coding blocks to their ScratchJr projects to animate the movement of cars, buses, or people on their map.
For example, a group can code a school bus to move left along the road to stop at the school, or a firefighter can walk to the house on the right of the map.
Encourage students to think about the sequence of movements and ensure that each character follows the right path based on their map design.
Testing and Refining:
After students have completed their maps and animations, ask them to test their code to ensure everything moves in the correct direction and sequence.
Allow time for them to refine their animations, adjusting any movements or directions that aren’t correct. Discuss how testing and fixing code is part of the computational thinking process known as debugging.
Presentation and Discussion:
Each group will present their animated map to the class, explaining how they coded the movements and how their characters interact with the map.
Lead a discussion on how sequencing helps control movements in a digital space and how maps help organize both physical and digital environments. Emphasize how important coding sequences are in digital mapping tools and GPS systems.
Equity and Access:
Provide pre-built templates or coding sequences for students who need additional support, and encourage peer collaboration to ensure that all students are engaged in the activity. Use visual aids or step-by-step instructions for students who may struggle with understanding coding blocks.
Real-World Application:
Relate the lesson to real-world tools like GPS systems or city planning software, explaining how digital maps help us navigate physical spaces. Highlight how coding is used in navigation apps to help people find the quickest routes and plan journeys.
CS Practice(s):
Creating Computational Artifacts: Students create animated maps, using coding blocks in ScratchJr to direct the movements of objects and characters.
Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts: Students test their animated maps and refine their code to ensure movements and positions are accurate.
Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems: Students identify how to sequence movements and positions in a digital space, solving problems by applying coding logic.
Standard(s):
CA History-Social Science K.4.1
CA History-Social Science K.4.4
CA CS K-2.AP.12, CA CS K-2.AP.13
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