Summer SAVY 2019: Session 2, Day 4 – Programming and Robotics (Lauren W.) (Rising 3rd/4th)

Posted by hallep on Thursday, June 20, 2019 in Grade 3, Grade 4, SAVY.

What a day of programming! We have filled our brains with new vocabulary this week and it is imperative to use it while we code, so we started the day with a vocabulary review game. Then, we continued reading The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown to inspire futuristic thinking for the rest of the day. Developing functions within our programs was the skill we added to our coding knowledge today. The programmers are really pushing their critical thinking skills to the max and showing perseverance when working through the difficult puzzles.

After lunch, these programmers researched pollination drones that are used to help ailing bees. This cross curricular study allowed us to understand the possible causes of the bees disappearing and why this is a problem. Although we focused on how these robots helped farming and crops, we also debated whether robots should be used to assist natural processes and the positive and negative implications of robots in nature.

The most exciting part of the day was when they engineered new features for their Lego Boost robots and programmed them to battle other teams bots. It was a very sporty and energetic afternoon that we all enjoyed!

Tonight ask your programmers:

What are the benefits of using functions?

What was one puzzle on code.org that you struggled with today?

How might the pollination drones impact the future of our natural world?