OVERVIEW

Activity Overview:

Students will use Cublets to make an alarm through trial and error. They will then write/draw the sequence of blocks they used and record their experience in their journal/comic book.

Meta description

• Subject Area: Computer Science, Reading/Language Arts
• Grade Level : K-2, 3-5, 6-8
• Computer Science Domains:
  • Computing Systems
• Computer Science Principles:
  • Collaborating Around Computing, Recognizing and Defining Computational Problems, Testing and Refining Computational Artifacts, Communicating About Computing
• Materials:
  • Cublet
• Considerations:
  • Have an idea of what blocks do what in the cublets, and make sure the black power cube is charged. Make sure that you emphasize that they can use journal or comic for differentiation.

Lesson Plan

Overview

Students will use Cublets to make an alarm through trial and error. They will then write/draw the sequence of blocks they used and record their experience in their journal/comic book.

ASSESSMENT PRE/POST-TEST

What is a better way to make an alarm? Why was making this alarm difficult?

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to record a sequence of blocks to show their solution to the problem. Students will be able to trouble shoot their circuit.

CATCH/HOOK

It’s been several weeks since the zombie outbreak has started. So far you’ve managed to stay hidden in the library and school, but on your supply runs you’ve noticed that the Zomies are getting closer to the building. You need a way to let you know when Zombies are getting to close. What are you going to do?

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS

Grades 2-8

Start by reading Zombies (found in the 398 area of the library or any zombie book in your library that you can find). Discuss what kind of walking patterns Zombies could use based off of the information in the book. Is this book like fake news? Once we do that we will break into our survival groups. The task is to create an alarm using Cublets that the Zombies can trigger when they get too close to the building. You’ve noticed them coming around a lot more and you really need to start making your defenses better and the first step is creating the alarm. Describe how the cublets work, that it is a completed circuit used with magnetics, and that when you move blocks it stops the circuit or continues it. There is one black block with an on/off switch and if it is not connected there will be no power. There are also some motion sensor blocks, so if something passes in front of it, it triggers other blocks to do something. Many of the colors are circuit builders, so they make certain blocks do their job and others not. It’s your job to figure out what works and then write down the sequence of blocks you used. Use color crayons if you need to so you know what kind of blocks they were. They could be a drawing of your alarm with the different blocks, writing it down with words, whatever you’re going to do. I do want the drawing as a big drawing, not a tiny little drawing of blocks. When it is time to switch you will write in your Zombie journal and make a comic panel of how it went for your characters. Did you get it to work? If not, maybe your characters accidentally made it blow up. Maybe they just couldn’t figure out the electricity for their alarm. Why didn’t it work for your characters if it didn’t work for you?

Rotations will happen as such:

Survival Groups 1-4: Check out Survival Groups 5-7: Cublets Groups will switch after 15 minutes. The remainder of class time will be them working on their journal and/or Comic.

Supplements

Any items in this section are the property & under the license of their respective owners.

REVIEW

Survival groups will share with someone not in their group. They will also use a sticky note to place the answers to the pre/post questions in the parking lot on their way out.

STANDARDS