Robot Rescue Dot (Gr. 3-5)

Description

Calling all mad scientists. Enter the Wonder Workshop laboratory, if you dare. Experiment to figure out the code which will reanimate Dot! In this Frankenstein-themed puzzle, students will program Dot to appear to reanimate over a series of 5 challenges.

Objectives

• Lights - students will understand how to turn All Lights off, by selecting black from the colour menu.
• Eye Pattern - students will learn to edit Eye Patterns to make Dot appear to smile and how to program Eye lights to turn on one light at a time.
• Adding blocks - students will learn to add to a program by dragging and dropping blocks.
• Change by variable - students will understand that variables hold a place for a piece of information that can change and will understand that variables can be edited in increments in the Change by block.
• When Conditions - students will recognize that when conditions are met in a When block the subsequent command will be executed. Example: When - Clap.
• Do-Drive - students will edit the Do block from Drive to Eye Light On.
• If...Else - students will program a two-part conditional. Example: If - the variable is greater than 11, Dot will say Hi! and then execute eye pattern. Else - the variable is less than 11, Dash will make a Weird Beep sound.
• Sound - students will edit the Weird and Say blocks in Sound with pre-programmed sounds, i.e., Buzz and Hi.

Lesson Procedure

At first, Dot will appear lifeless to the observer, but then, suddenly, "come to life" in a program incorporating an incremental "Change by" variable, i.e., +1 that will be invoked by a When-event, i.e., clap. The second half of this puzzle challenge, introduces students to "If...Else" as conditional statements, as in, "If this condition is met, then this will happen; If not (Else), then this will happen."