Engagement and enthusiasm reached new levels at Ramsay this week, as 5th grade students participated in the second of their 2-part robotics lesson, using a Hummingbird Duo robotics kit to plan, create, and test out a two-wheeled robotic vehicle!

After reviewing the basics of hardware, software, and circuitry, the students decided as a group to create a “object avoider” robot. They next planned out the specific actions that their vehicle would complete. In the end, they decided upon a robot that could move forward, and, when encountering an object in front of it, would stop, turn 90 degrees to the right, and move forward again.

Within thirty minutes, the students had not only completed their robot, but also were able to add a visual component to the vehicle’s movements. When the robot stopped, a light turned red. As it turned, the light turned purple, and as it moved forward, the light turned green.

With the last 5 minutes of the class period ticking away, they decided to add an additional sensor that would detect sound levels. The students programmed the robot to stop if the sensor reached a certain sound level. This enabled them to yell at the robot to stop if it was about to roll off of the table!

With clear STEM and project-based learning connections, the Hummingbird Kit proved to be a resourceful classroom tool. For more information about the Hummingbird Kit and robotics in ACPS, please contact your building TIS or the Instructional Technology Coordinator, Daniel Foreman.

 

5th grade students at Ramsay recently were given the opportunity to get their hands on a Hummingbird Duo Robotics Kit. The students began their lesson with a brief introduction of robotics terminology, learning the differences between hardware and software, as well as a basic overview of polarity and circuitry. Within minutes the students had attached multiple LEDs and sensors to the Hummingbird, easily manipulating the terminal tool to complete circuits. The lesson continued on the software side, where students learned about expressions and sequences in CREATE Lab Visual Programmer.

Once the basics were covered, the students challenged each other to create different types of robots. The projects started out small, with one student challenging another to create a robot that would blink between purple and red when a rotary sensor was turned. This led to more and more complexity, culminating in the students creating a 2-wheeled vehicle controlled through sound, which moved across the table until the students yelled at it to stop.

The lesson itself lasted a mere 45 minutes, though, by the end of the period, it was clear that the 5th graders had grasped the basic understanding of programming the Hummingbird. In our second lesson, students will have the opportunity to build a robotic vehicle with a chassis that they built at home!