COMB4T DR01DS
Overview:
Students will work in groups to 3D print and assemble the components to build a battle droid and controller. They will ultimately also build a battle arena where their battle droids will compete against one another to earn the most points. Educational robotics is an excellent way to make math more meaningful for students. Robots enable students to connect with, and immerse themselves in, the world of mathematics by applying their skills to a real-world setting. Students are then able to learn to appreciate the value of mathematics in their daily lives. Educational robotics also emphasizes the many ways in which technology can impact daily life. Giving students the opportunity to build, code, and manipulate their own technological designs teaches fundamental scientific methods and practices, such as the scientific method, observation, experimentation, data collection and analysis. It also allows for tangible investigations of applied physics and mechanical concepts, systems thinking, algorithmic thinking, and of course AI.
Standards:
NGSS Engineering Standards
MS-ETS1-2: Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
MS-ETS1-4: Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
HS-ETS1-2: Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
HS-ETS1-3. Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
ISTE Student Standards
1.5: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
1.5a: Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
1.5b: Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem- solving and decision-making.
1.5c: Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
1.5d: Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
The Big Ideas:
Big Idea #1: Role of the Programmer Students learn the roles and responsibilities of a programmer, which is to identify the task, plan out a solution, decompose that solution into steps that the robot can carry out, and then explain the steps to the robot through a program. As a programmer, it is important to keep programs precise. If you want the robot to do something, you need to communicate that idea with mathematical and logical precision, or it won’t quite be what you intended.
Big Idea #2: Sense, Perceive, Plan, Act Sensors provide information about the world. The program uses that information to figure out when to stop. And then the robot acts accordingly. Sense, Perceive, Plan, Act (SPPA) summarizes the four critical capabilities that every robot must have in order to operate effectively.
Big Idea #3: Make Sense of Systems To understand the way something works, students construct a mental “model” of it that captures the important features and rules of the system. This helps with understanding Program Flow and how other similar systems work and execute programs.
Big Idea #4: Computational Thinking Applies Everywhere These skills – mathematical and logical clarity, using data, systems thinking with mental models, and problem solving – are not just for robotics. They are key to solving many problems in the world.