Materials
Information for Teachers
NOTE: Please keep in mind that while the Cubelet information below is helpful for you, you may not want to share it with your students. A lot of student excitement and learning comes when students discover what they can do on their own.
Watch this video to learn 10 quick tips about how Cubelets work.
Check out this video to see different creations you can make with the Cubelets.
Lessons and Materials
Before Building
Ask students to help you sort the Cubelets into three categories: sense, think, and act.
Remind students that some cubes sense, which means that the cube gets information from its environment like when we see or hear. Some cubes think or tell the other cubes what to do, and some cubes act, or do something.
Model thinking for students by picking up the drive cube and saying, “This cube has wheels, so I think it’s an act cube, because it does something – drive!
If students struggle to sort the cubes, model thinking strategies with phrases like the ones below:
- Distance Cube – “I think this is a sense cube, because it looks like it has eyes.”
- Flashlight Cube – “I think this one is an action cube, because it looks like it lights up, and it is clear like the cube with wheels!”
- Battery Cube – “What do you think about this one? It is the Battery cube. It tells the other cubes to turn on, so it must be a Think cube.”
After you have sorted the cubes, count the cubes in each category. Which category has more?
Challenge students to build Print this .pdf and have students create a paper robot before using the Cubelets.
Print_a_Robot.pdfBuilding a Robot
Today we’re going to try to make different robots that sense, think, and act. Work with a partner to build a robot using the Battery cube, a black, sense cube, and a clear, Action cube. Don’t forget, it takes at least one black Sense cube, one clear Action cube and a Think cube (Battery) to make a robot.
Important: For this activity, remind students that the Battery is the most important Think cube because it gives power to all the other cubes. Let students know that you are going to take away the other Think cubes and give each group a Battery to use as their Think cube.
Build Tip: 💡 Since students get excited when they first start building with Cubelets and often just want to put as many cubes together as possible, keeping the cubes sorted into sense, think, and act baskets during this experience may encourage students to pay more attention to which types of cubes they are using to build their robots. Consider using different colored baskets for different types of cubes or labeling clear baskets with Cubelets pictures (see photograph).
You can also tell student groups that they can only have one cube from each basket at a time and that if they want a new cube, they have to trade their cube into the right basket. This may be a helpful way to make sure they only have one of each cube type.
Program your first robot
Cubelet Lesson Plans - Pre K to K
Cubelet Lesson Plans: Grades 1-3
Cubelet Lesson Plans: Grades 4-6
