Big Buzz: Powering Learning in the Lower School with Robotics

By Lindsay Kent

In the VCS Lower School, educational robotics serve as tools for providing students with an introduction to programming and computational thinking in a playful and interactive way. The vertically-aligned robotics program grows with students as they continue to expand and build upon their knowledge each year. Other content areas—such as Mathematics and Social Studies—are connected to students’ robotics work to create engaging interdisciplinary learning experiences. This early introduction to robotics fosters the development of essential skills including teamwork and perseverance while engaging our students’ cognitive and creative potential.

A VCS student’s robotics journey begins in 1st Grade with Bee-Bots, colorful and easy-to-operate robots designed for the youngest learners. Students begin by making a connection between their knowledge of sequencing from literacy to computer programming. They discover how to program their Bee-Bots using a series of simple commands including moving forward and backward and turning left and right. By doing so, they gain fluency with planning, testing, problem-solving (debugging) and directionality. Working in partnerships, 1st Graders take on the roles of “navigator” (plans the program using command cards) and “driver” (programs the Bee-Bot by pressing the buttons). The students tackle two challenges: programming their Bee-Bots to follow a sequence of steps to do a “bug dance” and programming their bots to navigate a shape maze.

In 2nd Grade, students’ robotics work continues as they graduate to Ozobots, small and versatile educational robots that offer a multimodal approach to programming and opportunities for independent and shared exploration. At this age, students focus on screen-free programming, using markers to draw color codes the Ozobots’ sensors respond to. By experimenting with different combinations of these codes, students control the movement and trajectory of their robots, all while learning the fundamentals of coding. Students make connections between the input of a sequence of colors and the output of direction and speed. After completing assigned challenges, they have an opportunity to engage in self-guided discovery by taking their bots on a “road trip”; using a blank sheet of paper, they draw their own pathways and apply what they’ve learned about color codes to change their bot’s movements, speed and direction as it travels from a starting point to a final destination. These student-designed paths range from race tracks for some friendly bot competition to vocabulary words that the Ozobots can “spell” out. Ozobots also make an appearance in a 2nd Grade math lesson where they assist students in practicing their coin counting skills. Students collect coins as their bots pass them on a color-coded track and then find the sum of their earnings.

In Technology class, 3rd Graders review color codes and begin using the OzoBlockly online coding editor to advance

their skills to block-based coding. After creating a program in OzoBlockly, students send it via Bluetooth to their Ozobot. Next, 3rd Graders explore the programming concept of loops as they program their bots to move in different patterns. An integrated math activity gives students an opportunity to apply their knowledge of 2D shapes and multiplication while working with their Ozobots. Students program their bots to randomly select a number of units for the length and width of a rectangle, then use the numbers to draw the rectangle on grid paper and find the area by multiplying the length by the width.

More complex programming concepts including conditionals and variables in OzoBlockly await students in 4th Grade, where young programmers begin by playing a game of Ozobot tag in which they program their bots to react to their hand movements using conditionals. Next, in a maze game challenge, students apply their knowledge of conditionals to program their bots to move through a maze, respond to obstacles and rewards, and celebrate reaching the finish line. As an integrated project with 4th Grade Social Studies during Black History Month, students learn about Dorothy Vaughan, a Black pioneer in computer science, and simulate work she completed as a programmer at NASA using Ozobots. Students are introduced to functions in programming and use variable blocks in OzoBlockly to have their bots model a rocket with enough force to take off.

Robotics with Bee-Bots and Ozobots in the Lower School is a launchpad for the exciting work students will engage in during STEAM class in both 5th Grade and the Upper School, when their robotics work will expand beyond programming to encompass engineering as students build robots from scratch and experience the joy of hands-on creation.

Next time you’re walking through the hallways of VCS, listen carefully for the buzzing sound of a Bee-Bot, an Ozobot cruising along at “turbo” speed, or the cheers of students celebrating their bots successfully completing a maze. You’ll be hearing tomorrow’s innovators at work.