Classroom robotics: which robot for which grade?

Kindergarten to grade 2: code without a screen

Young children learn sequences best with their hands and their bodies. Floor robots such as Bee-Bot®, Blue-Bot® and Botley are programmed with buttons; KUBO® is programmed by placing coding tiles in order. Students predict where the robot will stop, test, and fix their sequence when it goes the wrong way.

That loop of predicting, testing and debugging is the heart of computational thinking, and it works long before children can read. Our KUBO® Coding activity, for example, is designed for kindergarten to grade 2, with six robots supplied by Profaqua.

Grades 1 to 6: build, then program

With LEGO® WeDo 2.0, students build a motorized model, then program it on an iPad with visual blocks. They discover motors, sensors and simple machines while solving a concrete challenge. It is a natural step up from floor robots, and it fits well over several visits so students can improve their build from one session to the next.

LEGO® SPIKE™ and EV3: sensors, missions and real problems

Offered from grade 1 to grade 12, LEGO® SPIKE™ and MINDSTORMS® EV3 really shine as students get older. They open the door to more ambitious missions: robots that react to their environment, follow a line, sort objects or complete a timed challenge. Students plan, divide tasks, document their code and present their solution, which makes these platforms a great fit for multi-visit projects.

For older students who enjoy logic puzzles, Turing Tumble® offers a mechanical way to explore how computers make decisions.

Our robots or yours

In our full programs, Profaqua brings the robots, the iPads, the activity mats and an Apple TV to display on your interactive whiteboard. If your school already owns robots, we can also run the activity with your equipment; in that case, the robots and tablets must be charged and updated before we arrive.

Robotics also fits outside class time: after-school clubs run for 6 to 12 weeks in groups of 14 to 20 children, and our Pro-D day Package D offers three hours of robotics.

Want your team to lead it next year?

Many schools start with a facilitated program and then want teachers to continue on their own. Our training sessions cover LEGO® WeDo, SPIKE™, EV3 and NXT, Bee-Bot®, Blue-Bot®, Botley, KUBO®, Dash & Dot and Turing Tumble®, as well as Scratch, Python and Arduino, with course notes for your team.

What students really learn

A robotics activity looks like a game, and that is what makes it work. Behind the game, students practise the building blocks of computational thinking: putting steps in order, repeating an action with a loop, making the robot react to a sensor, and above all finding and fixing their own mistakes.

• Sequences: “the robot moves forward two squares, turns, then stops”.
• Loops: repeating an action instead of writing it ten times.
• Conditions: “if the sensor sees a line, then turn”.
• Debugging: predicting, testing, observing what went wrong and trying again.

Teamwork comes with it. Teams of students share the robot and split the roles, such as builder, programmer, tester and reporter, then switch. In a French program, the vocabulary of directions and movement (avance, recule, tourne à gauche) becomes something students need, not a list to memorize.

In class, after school or on a Pro-D day

Robotics fits different moments of the school year:

• Classroom projects: from two 60-minute workshops during school hours, with a minimum of two groups. Prices vary with the robot and the number of visits.
• After-school clubs: 6 to 12 weeks of robotics in French, groups of 14 to 20 children, from $1,800 for 6 weeks.
• Pro-D days: Package D offers three hours of robotics, from $600.

After-school programs and Pro-D days are offered in Greater Vancouver.

Getting the room ready

Robotics needs little, but it needs it at the right time. Plan access to electrical outlets, an interactive whiteboard or projector to display the code, and a clear space for floor robots and for the demonstrations at the end of the class. Form the teams before the facilitator arrives: those few minutes saved go straight to building and coding.

If you use your school’s own robots, charge and update them and the tablets the day before. Nothing slows a session down like a software update at 9 a.m.