Encounter Edu offers a classroom bundle for Code Smart Ages 11-14 which contains everything you need to get started with coding and robotics in your classroom.

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Lesson overview

Part two of the workshop sees your class use an ideas funnel to select and refine ideas from the brainstorming activity in part one. Each group will then prototype one of the ideas using the hardware and software skills they have learned with the mBot in lessons 1-6.

Learning outcomes

• Understand what prototyping is and why it is used
• Describe a number of prototyping methods
• Evaluate and refine own ideas and the ideas of others
• Combine hardware, software and crafting skills to make a prototype
• Share learning with the class

Lesson steps

1. Video opener (5 mins)
   Introduction to prototyping, including examples of different ways people prototype and why it is useful.
2. Classroom discussion (10 mins)
   The class will discuss the video and think about how they can use prototyping to take some of their ideas forward.
3. Design thinking: prototype (35 mins)
   Groups will use an ideas funnel to choose one idea from the brainstorming session and use the mBot and crafting skills to create a working demonstration that they will be able to present to the class in the next part of the workshop.
4. Reflect (10 mins)
   Students will reflect on the prototyping activity and share their learning.

Equipment required (per group)

• mBot with remote
• Laptop or tablet with mBlock
• Prototyping materials, such as clay, coloured paper and tape

England

Computing Key Stage 3

• Use a programming language to solve a variety of computational problems
• Undertake creative projects that involve selecting, using, and combining multiple applications to achieve challenging goals, including meeting the needs of known users

Design & Technology Key Stage 3

• Evaluate
  Test, evaluate and refine ideas and products against a specification, taking into account the views of intended users and other interested groups
• Design
  Use research and exploration to identify and understand user needs
  Develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, oral and digital presentations and computer-based tools
• Make
  Select from and use a wider range of materials and components according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities
• Technical knowledge
  Apply computing and use electronics to embed intelligence in products that respond to inputs, and control outputs, using programmable components.

USA

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students

• 1c. Students use technology to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
• 1d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
• 3a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
• 3d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
• 4a. Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
• 4c. Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design processes
• 4d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
• 5a. Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
• 5c. Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
• 5d. Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
• 7c. Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.
• 7d. Students explore local and global issues and use collaborative technologies to work with others to investigate solutions.