Holladay Elementary

Robot Invention Invasion

Henrico Learner Profile (HLP) 6C Focus

2nd Grade - Science

SOL/Standards  

Science 2.2 - The student will investigate and understand that different types of forces may cause an object’s motion to change.

Social Studies 2.2 -  The student will demonstrate knowledge of the United States by describing important developments and innovations in United States history, including developments and innovations related to communication and transportation.

Learning Experience

Our DLI (Dual Language Immersion) classes completed a social studies unit on Innovators (Social Studies SOL2.2) and a science unit on force and motion (Science SOL2.2). We asked the students to be innovators and create a robot that uses contact or noncontact forces to solve a real-life problem. First, they brainstormed a list of problems they had personally.  Then we asked them to think of ways that a robot could solve those problems. We used clay to create a prototype robot and animated it with Animated Drawings. Once the students saw the possibilities and limitations of the AI-generated animations, they revised their designs.  They also researched robot designs online to help them be more creative. Finally, the robot animations were turned into GIFs which were added to a Google slideshow presentation to explain how the robots solve problems using force and motion. 

What did the student(s) learn about this experience:

“I really liked doing this project because I like technology. It was fun to animate the robot. It took a lot of time, and I like when projects take a lot of time because I wanted to keep working on it.” - Wyatt P.

“This was the best project I’ve done. I was trying to be creative to think of problems that my robot could solve.” - Charlotte E.

What did the teacher enjoy about this experience:

"We loved seeing students tap into their creativity and brainstorm real-world problems and solutions! We were so impressed by their amazing ideas and seeing the students work in both Spanish and English was the most impressive. The robots really reflected students' innovative minds." - Ms. Barajas

Additional Pictures, Media & Artifacts

2nd Force & Motion Robots

Document with links to all the student projects

Robot Invention Invasion

Slideshow of our 8 representative robot projects

Our 8 student representatives and 2 teachers

A sample AI-animated robot

Thank you to the innovators who helped make this experience possible: