OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Tetrix: In this lesson students will sort/ organize the school’s Tetrix sets to ensure each set is complete. After which, students will attempt to create a robot that performs functions specific to those that their group agreed upon. This is an exploratory lesson for students who have never used Tetrix kits before.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Science, Reading/Language Arts, Technology, Engineering, Art
• Grade Level : 3-5, 6-8
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Computing Systems, Algorithms and Programming
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Fostering an Inclusive Computing Culture, Collaborating Around Computing, Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems, Communicating About Computing
• Materials:
  • Website, Tetrix sets
• Considerations:
  • We (our school) has not used the Tetrix kits in many years. In fact, I did not know that we had this resource in our school until only recently. That being said, I did speak to teachers who had used these in the past. We are starting this lesson by sorting the kits, but in all honesty, I am not even sure we have all the parts to make this lesson successful. I also recruited our school’s technology expert to help us problem shoot due to the lack of instructional guides with he kits.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Tetrix: In this lesson students will sort/ organize the school’s Tetrix sets to ensure each set is complete. After which, students will attempt to create a robot that performs functions specific to those that their group agreed upon. This is an exploratory lesson for students who have never used Tetrix kits before.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

Is your kit complete with all parts listed? What functions will your robot complete/did your robot complete the functions that you and your group members decided upon?

OBJECTIVES

I can locate all parts of a Tetrix kit to ensure the kit is complete. I can build and program a robot to complete a set of functions.

CATCH/HOOK

I will place a collection of random wheels, screws, bars, angles, plates, axels, etc. in each group. ‘Have you seen anything similar to the pieces in front of you? What do you suppose these pieces can be used for?’ We will have a group discussion to follow.

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Hook: see above Activity: 1 - Provide each group with a kit component card 2 - Explain to students that we need to resort the parts for the kits, because over time they have become mixed together. Each group will focus on one kit. We will use the two kits as extra parts kits. 3 - Once each kit is rebuilt, tell students that we will explore possibilities on how to put the parts together to build robots. Explore several Youtube videos and Google images using key words such as ‘how to build robots using Tetrix’. This should give students an idea on the possibilities of creations using their kits.
4 - Give students adequate creating time to build moveable robots using their kits and in collaboration with their teammates. Allow students to watch videos for support if needed. This is an exploratory phase. 5. - Once students have built a robot that is able to move, students will plan what movements their team will complete. Try simple things at first such as moving forward or turning. When ready, students should be challenged to perform more specific tasks like move forward 4 feet, turn right 90 degrees, etc. 6. Students will connect the brains to the robot and try to perform their agreed upon tasks. 7. Closing: have a group discussion about what when well, and what was challenging for students. Complete end of activity questions.

Supplements

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REVIEW

Group discussion: What did you build? What were you able to program your robot to do? What was challenging? What was encouraging? What would you do different next time?

STANDARDS