Objective:
Students will be able to have a hands on learning experience with coding that illustrates how the sequence of events affects the outcome.
Materials:
Code and Go Robot Mouse Activity Set (Available from Learning Essentials or any online marketplace)
Introduction:
This activity is an inquiry-based assignment that asks students to apply their current understanding of sequencing through coding of a toy mouse. Sequencing is a skill that is cross curricular and directly applicable to everyday life. This integrated skill plays into the theory of the “connected learning environment” suggested by Ito et al. (2013). By creating an activity that is relevant and interactive becomes more effective and meaningful to the learner (Ito, et. al, 2013). This exercise also utilizes critical thinking and problem solving skills by encouraging children to build various scenarios for the mouse to reach his end goal (the cheese).
Things to consider:
- The more hands-off the teacher is the more problem solving skills students will have to utilize.
- Stay away from questions such as
- "Which way will Colby be facing?"
- "Are you sure...?"
- "Will he be far enough?"
- Monitor the way you structure your classroom. We would recommend doing this activity in a small group because of the limited resources.
Step-by-Step
Introduce “sequencing” based on age of children:
“Everything that we do in our life has an order. For example, in the morning, I wake up, put on my clothes, then go to school. What would happen if I got up and then went to school? I would go to school in my pajamas! We create order so that we get the result we want! This is called sequencing. Let’s practice by using coding to move the mouse, Colby.”
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This is a video to share with the students, but it can also be useful for teacher understanding.
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Challenge:
See if you can get Colby to reach the cheese in a different way.
Extra-Spicy Challenge:
Have students create their own obstacles for Colby to face.
Try getting Colby to reach the cheese by going backward until his last move.
Try getting Colby to reach the cheese by going backward until his last move.