Teaching with Ozobot

• Before kids arrive:

  1. Set up each station with an Ozobot, a black marker, and a sheet of blank paper for students to work in pairs or triads.

• With students:

  1. Tell students that there are two expectations with the tool (I intentionally don't call them Ozobots right away).

     1. It likes to be on the table or the floor but they don't like going from the table to the floor. I also tell students that they are faster than the Ozobot and are expected to catch them if they start falling. 

     2. If a student figures something out, they have to share it with the whole group. There are no secrets in this activity. 

*If you have students who have used the Ozobots before, have them work alone with an Ozobot while the rest of the group figures out the basics.

• Tell students they can begin.

• Things to figure out (10-15 minutes)

  • It has wheels, so it should roll/move.

  • There are sensors on the bottom.

  • There is a button on the side to turn it on.

  • There is a front and back (charger port on the back).

  • The marker makes lines.

  • It will follow the line.

  • The thickness of the line matters.

*During this time, encourage students to share what they figure out. The teacher can ask guiding questions but it is best to let the students discover how to use the tool. 

• Day 1 Challenges (10 minutes)

  • Draw an infinite loop where the Ozobot doesn't ever stop. Most kids will draw circles or squares. Encourage them to try to fill a sheet with some sort of infinite loop. They will have to focus on lines staying the right thickness and not getting too close to each other. They may also unintentionally learn about intersections and how the tool will randomly choose a direction.

  • Have each group create a page that can be connected to another page to keep the Ozobot going and make a dance line with all the Ozobots. The line will have to start at one end of a page and finish at another but can do anything in the middle.

  • If you have time, you can introduce the other colors and have them discover that Ozobot will change the light color based on the color of the line.

• Clean-up

  • Turn off the Ozobot and give it to the teacher or put it back in the box.

  • Turn in the markers.

  • Recycle all the paper.

• Before kids arrive:

  1. Set up each station with an Ozobot, a black marker, and a sheet of blank paper.

• With students:

  1. Review the two expectations

     1. It likes to be on the table or the floor but they don't like going from the table to the floor. I also tell students that they are faster than the Ozobot and are expected to catch them if they start falling. 

     2. If a student figures something out, they have to share it with the whole group. There are no secrets in this activity. 

• Review marker coding

  • Have each student or group create a line that goes from one side of their paper to the other. 

    • The line can be whatever they want as long as an Ozobot can follow and the line starts on one edge and finishes on a different edge.

    • Connect all the papers together and see if the whole class can make one long line and have a dance line with all the Ozobots.

• New Learning

  • Give each group a red, green, and blue marker and the 3-Box line handout.

  • Tell students that different color combinations in the 3 boxes make Ozobot do different things.

  • They need to have at least 2 colors, and like colors can't be touching.

  • Have students explore different color combinations to see what happens. Record any color combinations students figure out and share with the whole group.

  • If they get stuck, you can look at this page to get ideas.

• Day 2 Challenge

  • Create an infinite loop that includes at least two different color codes. 

• If you have time, introduce the 4-Box line handout. 

  • Color combinations with 4 boxes make Ozobot do even more things. 

  • They are available on this page.

• Clean-up

  • Turn off the Ozobot and give it to the teacher

  • Turn in the markers.

  • Recycle all the paper or groups can save their work for future reference.

Students need a Chromebook or iPad for the following parts.

Introduce Ozoblockly to the students using the "Shape Tracer" Challenge.

https://games.ozoblockly.com/shapetracer-basic

Have them complete all 10 challenges.

• Flash Coding

  • Once you have all your coding done on the screen.

  • Turn the Ozobot on.

  • Hold the power button for 2 seconds until Ozobot flashes white.

  • Hold the bottom of the Ozobot to the white dot on the bottom left of the screen.

  • Ozobot flashes green when calibrated. 

  • Hold the bottom of the Ozobot to the white Ozobot icon next to the calibration.

  • Press "Load Bit."

  • The icon will start flashing colors.

    • The more coding you have, the longer the flashing.

    • It's important to keep the Ozobot flat on the screen the whole time!

  • Once the flashing stops, your Ozobot is ready to go. 

  • Push the power button twice and your Ozobot should do all the coding you programmed.

    • This can be tricky to get right and requires some practice and patience.

What will your students do with this new learning???

There are millions of ideas of what students can do.

• Diagram/map a story (ELA/Literacy).

• Immigration patterns (Social Studies)

• Circulatory system outline (Science)

• Shapes and angles (Math)

Use your imagination and skills to create something with the Ozobot that represents your content!!!