VR - Mission 2: Introducing CodeBot

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Mission 2 Lesson Plan

Introducing CodeBot

Get to know CodeBot's peripherals and learn the difference between an input and an output.

⏰ 30 minutes 🎯 Grades 9-12+ 💻 CodeSpace 🤖 Virtual CodeBot 🐍 Python
View Lesson Outline
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Overview

In Mission 2, students take a closer look at CodeBot itself. They'll identify its hardware peripherals, sensors, LEDs, motors, buttons, and a speaker, and learn to sort each one as an input or an output. Along the way, they'll also see how the camera controls can be adjusted in the virtual environment.

No physical robot is required. Everything runs in the CodeSpace simulator, so this mission works on any Chromebook or computer with a browser.

🎯 Mission Goal: Students will learn about the peripherals of CodeBot.

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Learning Targets

  • I can identify the main components of the CodeBot.
  • I can state the purpose of a peripheral as input or output.
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Key Concepts

  • There are a lot of hardware peripherals on the CodeBot, including sensors, LEDs, motors, buttons, and a speaker.
  • The camera controls can be changed in the virtual environment.
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Assessment Opportunities

  • Label the parts of CodeBot (assignment)
  • Label the inputs and outputs of CodeBot
  • Level-1 Mission 2 Review Kahoot
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Success Criteria

  • Identify the parts of the CodeBot
  • Identify the purpose of the parts (input or output)
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Digital Resources

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Classroom Materials

  • ▸Computer or Chromebook with internet access
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Real-World Applications

🔌Every electronic device students use, phones, game consoles, cars, has a circuit board similar to CodeBot's inside, built around a microcontroller just like the one on the 'bot.
🌍Understanding inputs and outputs helps explain how everyday technology works, and how our lives have changed since computers took over tasks people used to do by hand.
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Extensions & Cross-Curricular

ExtensionMake a list of common input and output devices.
Lang ArtsStudents write about technology today and its impact.
ScienceStudents research a microcontroller or other every day device.
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Vocabulary

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CodeBot - A computer on wheels with lots of sensors and controls built-in.
Peripherals - Devices that give input or output to the CodeBot; they include LED lights, speaker, motors, line sensors, proximity sensors, an accelerometer and push buttons.
Motors - Programmable electric engines; powers the wheels.
LEDs - Light emitting diodes; tiny and efficient electronic components that produce light.
Wheel encoders - Discs that rotate, counting the invisible IR light beam pulses through its slots.
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Standards

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CSTA Standards - Grades 11-12

3B-CS-02
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Preparing for the Lesson
  • If this is the first experience with CodeSpace for your students, use the "Getting Started" slide deck to help students log in and join the class.
  • A slide deck and assignment are provided that review the parts of CodeSpace.
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Teacher Notes
  • This is the first lesson in all the mission packs. If your students have completed other mission packs with other physical devices, they'll already know this information - have them complete it as a review, or unlock the next mission instead.
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Lesson Outline

💡Lesson Tips and Tricks
Teaching tip: This is a labeling and vocabulary lesson, not a coding lesson. Students will match 15 CodeBot parts, from the accelerometer to the wheels, to their names, then sort each one as an input or an output.
Teaching tip: If this is the first time your students have used CodeSpace, use the "Getting Started" slide deck to help them log in and join the class before starting the mission.
🗣️Warm-up / Hook

Have students write or discuss their answers before revealing them.

  • Question: Name a few devices you use every day that might have a computer chip or "microcontroller" inside, just like CodeBot.
  • Question: What's the difference between a device giving you information (an output) and a device taking in information (an input)?
💻Mission 2 Activities

Students complete the Level-1 Mission 2 Assignment, a 15-part labeling worksheet covering CodeBot's accelerometer, battery pack, buttons, expansion connector, line sensors and LEDs, motors, power switch, proximity sensors, reboot button, speaker, user LEDs, wheel encoders, and wheels.

Teaching tip: Walk through the peripherals as a class first, grouping them by type, sensors, LEDs, motors and wheels, buttons, and speaker and power, before students label their own diagram. Reinforce the vocabulary as you go: CodeBot, Peripherals, Motors, LEDs, and Wheel encoders.
Teaching tip: Point out that the camera controls can be adjusted in the virtual environment, which is unique to the virtual CodeBot.

Once students finish, check their work against the Level-1 Mission 2 Assignment Answers key.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑Post-Mission Reflection

Challenge students to describe how our lives are impacted by everyday microcontroller-powered technology, and compare how related tasks were done before computers existed.

Have students work through the Level-1 Mission 2 Review Questions, a 10-item "identify the part" check using a labeled CodeBot image, individually or in pairs.

Wrap up with the Level-1 Mission 2 Review Kahoot for a fast, fun recap of the parts and their inputs and outputs.

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