There has been a growing demand for teaching students computational thinking in

recent years. That is, teaching students to take an abstract concept in their heads

and reduce it to a set of ordered, logical commands on paper. One of the strengths

program their robots to solve a problem. That is, they combine computational

thinking with engineering design to construct an artifact that either does or does not

succeed in achieving the original goal. One of the nice attributes is that students will

teach each other, as some might be stronger in programming while others might be

better builders.

    Over the years, I have seen many teachers provide students with pre-built models so

that they concentrate on the computational thinking and others give pre-written codes

so that the students will concentrate on the building. While I believe there are merits

to learning both skills, it always seems to work better when they are not done in

isolation. Barbara has developed a number of activities that require the students to

use both skills. Further, she does it through presenting open-ended problems,

problems where every team of students will have a different answer. In the time of

standardization (standard curriculum, standardized tests, and so on), it is great to see

something that pushes diversity in thought. Students will learn far more by looking at

how their classmates have solved the problem if the classmates have solutions that

differ from their own. Further, open-ended problems allow students to fail along the

way to solving the problem. Learning from one’s own mistakes is a powerful way to

understand new concepts and retain that understanding long past the end of the

class.

    I hope you will find the book a fun and exciting way to learn the basics of robotics. I

also hope that you will actively share your successes and failures with other teachers

so that they too will bring more open-ended problem solving into their classes. I look

forward to the day when students can be active experts in a classroom, learning from

each other as much as from the teacher.

Chris Rogers

Preface

classroom—for teaching engineering, science, math, critical thinking, and, most of all,

creative problem solving. Writing a program that runs or building a contraption that

works gives a project an authenticity that cannot be matched by a pencil-and-paper

exercise, no matter how thoughtful it is.

    In designing these activities, I have used a problem-solving approach as much as

possible. Even the programming tutorials are posed as a series of problems to be

solved. I have kept detailed explanations to a minimum. (In my experience, students

tend to skip reading any explanation longer than a paragraph anyway.) Instead, the

students are given the basic information they need and then turned loose to solve the

problem themselves.

    This open-ended approach is engaging for the students and has benefits for the

teacher as well. First, it works well in a classroom where students are at different

levels. All of the students can master the basics; the more advanced students can

create more elaborate programs and designs. Second, open-ended projects are fun

to teach. Every year, I am amazed and delighted by my students’ creations.

Barbara Bratzel

About this Book……………

Materials…………

Classroom Management………

Additional Resources………

Project Rules……

Introduction………………………

1. Build a Box…………………………

2. Fancy Box…………………………

3. Simple Two-Motor NXT Car I………

4. Simple Two-Motor NXT Car II………

Introduction………………………………………

1. Drive for Five: Motor On/Off, Wait for Time……

2. Pirouette: Steering…………………………………

3. Lurch: While Loop…………………………………

4. Snake: While Loop, Continue If True……

Introduction……………………………………………….....

1. Burglar Alarm: Wait for Distance, Loop within a Program..

2. Clap On: Lamp Brick……………………………

3. Daytime Fan: Using a Sensor to Control an Output……

Introduction……………………………………….…

1. Two Turns: Wait for Rotation, Drive Distance..…

2. Cockroach: Wait for Light………………..…

3. Unsynchronized Motors: Parallel Loops…

4. Push-Button Motor: Case Structure……….

Introduction……………………………

1. Skip Count 2010: For Loop…………

2. Roll of the Die: Random Number Generator…

3. Countdown: Loop Iteration Number………

4. Beeep: Loop for Time……………………

5. Three-Speed Fan: Nested Loops……

Introduction………………………………

1. Push-Button Scale: Shift Register.……

2. Random Song: Multiple Cases……………

3. Dog Years: Front Panel………………

4. Bump in the Night: Logic Functions……

5. Status Report: Nested Case Structures…

6. Bus Stop: SubVIs…………………………

7. Paul the Octopus 2009: Calculator…………

8. Temperature Shifts 2010: Formula Node……

Introduction…………………………

1. Cloverleaf………………………

2. Dancing Bot…………………

3. Meet and Greet………………

4. Applause Meter……………

5. Bug in a Box………………

6. Outside the Box…………

7. Clean Sweep……………

8. Haunted House…………

9. Loaded Dice………

10. Side-View Mirror…………

Introduction……………………………

1. Getting Up to Speed……

2. Stop for Pedestrians………

3. Parking Space……………

4. No Wheels……………

5. Gear Training…………

6. Worm Gears…………

7. Benham’s Disks………………

8. At a Snail’s Pace…………

9. Perfect Pitcher………

10. Different Drummer……

11. Ramp Up……………

12. Peak Performance……

13. Hearing Test…………

14. Musical Instrument……

15. Random or Not…………

16. Efron’s Dice………

17. Voting Machine……………

18. Do You Have a Sister?..................

19. Reaction Time……………………

20. Logic Gates…………………

21. Control Car………

22. Grassfire…………………………

Introduction………………………………

1. Light and Dark Scavenger Hunt………

2. Thunderstorm…………..………

3. Bright Light……………………

4. Crossing the Lines…………

5. Driving……………………..…

6. Deriving……………………

7. Zigzag and Diamond……………

8. Ultrasonic Pendulum…………………

9. Which Room?.........................

10. Logging the Control Car……

11. Stir It Up…………

12. It’s a Breeze……

13. Cool It Fast………………

Introduction……………………………

1. Music Box……………………

2. Mini Golf…………………

3. Robotic Zoo………………

4. Chain Reaction Machine……

5. EGGcellent Contraption………

6. Wacky Gumball Machine……

7. Robo Artist…………………