Color Coding

Robots are everywhere and have been for some time. They have been used to make our lives easier. In the last bit of years, they have become 'toys' for our young engineers. Children have been learning how to build them and how to make them move. The language used, coding, can be seen in different forms:

OSMO Coding Blocks

HTML Code

Scratch Coding Blocks

As students learn different types of coding, they can program a variety of objects. OSMO coding blocks teach Kindergarten students coding through a physical map of connecting the pieces. The OSMO app will 'read' the blocks and show what it looks like on a screen. Scratch will take it to the next level. The physical blocks are now on the screen and organized by type of movement they want their character to move. The character will be displayed on the screen as they create and test the code. A sample of completed Scratch coding project can be seen below.

All of this leads to this week in the Makerspace Lab. Students in 5th grade have been working on coding and practiced their skills on Code.org. After grasping the concept they moved on to coding Ozobots.

Ozobots code on color. Students needs to create a drawing using four colors: black, red, blue and green. Each color has a job and the small robot will respond to it depending on the length of each line, color or color combination and how wide the markings are. The directions they were given were quite minimal to encourage the critical thinking need to become successful. Below are samples of their work along with a successful roller coaster.

Map for Ozobot