The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

Day in the Life: An Ozobot Mars Rover

Day in the Life: An Ozobot Mars Rover

A [5th-8th] Grade STEM Lesson

Hannah Evans

7/24/2023

Notes for Teachers

• Students should complete this project individually or in pairs. In my class, I had students work individually but they were allowed to work together to create the same programs for their Ozobots to follow.
• Before this multi-day project, students should have already had a lesson in Ozoblockly basics. Here is a link to the one I used (you will need an Ozobot Classroom Teacher account): Ozobot Classroom
• I also did a background lesson on the history of Mars rovers and their purpose before starting this project. All in all for my STEM specials class this project took 1 week including the lessons mentioned above, and 3 45-minute class periods to complete the project.

List of Materials

• Class set of Evo Ozobots with charging tray (Link to purchase: Evo Classroom Kit (18 Bots))
• Black expo markers
• Mars maps printed in color (ideally laminated)
• Class set of chromebooks or other laptops with internet access
• Online sites used:
• Ozoblockly
• Flipgrid (or similar video recording platform)
• Google Classroom
• Nearpod (Optional)

Standards

Arizona Computer Science Standards

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4.AP.C.1/5.AP.C.1 Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and/or conditionals.

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4.AP.PD.3/5.AP.PD.3 Test and debug (identify and fix errors) a program/app or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended.

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6.CS.T.1/7.CS.T.1/8.CS.T.1 Identify problems that can occur in computing devices and their components within a system.

Since a computing device may interact with interconnected devices within a system, problems may not be due to the computing device itself but to devices or components connected to it. For example, students can discuss why the internet might not be working on their device. It could be airplane mode, no signal (Wi-Fi or mobile data), component malfunction, interference, etc.

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Arizona Math Standards

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5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system, and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real-world problems.

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Arizona Technology Standards

Standard 4. Innovative Designer

3-5.4.a. Students, in collaboration with an educator, explore and practice a design process by generating ideas to solve a problem by planning, creating and testing innovative products that are shared with others.

6-8.4.a. Students engage in a design process for generating and testing ideas and developing innovative products to solve problems.

3-5.4.c. Students, in collaboration with an educator, engage in a cyclical design process to develop, test and refine prototypes and reflect on the role that trial and error plays.

6-8.4.c. Students engage in a design process to develop, test, and revise prototypes, embrace the iterative process of trial and error, and understand setbacks as potential opportunities for improvement.

Objective(s):

Students will be able to write a program using Ozoblockly block coding for an Ozobot “rover” to visit several locations on a map of Mars to perform a series of tasks given certain constraints.

Agenda (4-5 45-minutes classes and/or ~3.5 hrs total)

Day 1: Background: Rovers in Space

Day 2: Introduction and/or Review of Ozoblockly Basics

Day 3: Project Work Time

Day 4: Project Work Time

Day 5: Project Work Time- Film Ozobot program and post on Flipgrid (or similar platform)

Day 1 Google/Nearpod Slides

Day 2 Google/Nearpod Slides

Day 3-5 Google/Nearpod Slides

Intro/Driving Question/Opening

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How do NASA computer scientists program (give instructions to) rovers in space to travel the landscape of Mars and perform tasks?

Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Group structure: This will depend on how many Ozobots you have compared to your class size. However, I would recommend that you have a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of Ozobot to students. If you have a larger ratio than that, the students who are not actively using the Ozobot will become disengaged.
• Instructions:
• Follow along with the Google/Nearpod slides linked on Slide 6.
• Day 1 Outline:
• Day of of this week-long project is primarily building background knowledge on Mars Rovers.
• Go over objective and agenda (5 min)
• Videos: students will watch three short videos to build background on Mars Rovers:
• Video 1: The History of Mars Rovers
• Video 2: Meet Perseverance: NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover *note: Perseverance actually landed on Mars in 2021*
• Video 3: Perseverance Landing on Mars
• Quiz/Review Game
• NASA Rover Game: Explore Mars: A Mars Rover Game | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
• This game is a great introduction to coding, giving step by step instructions, and thinking ahead. It also transitions perfectly into the Ozobot rover coding project.
• To increase engagement, you can keep a “High Score” record on your board and encourage students to beat it.

• Instructions (cont.)
• Day 2 Outline:
• Go over objective and agenda (5 min)
• Videos:

***NOTE: Only play the “Loading” video that shows the method of leading a program you are going to use: Manually/through the screen or through Bluetooth.

• Video 1: OzoBlockly Basic Training (10 min)
• Students should receive a link to Ozoblockly through Google Classroom or something similar. They should follow along with the Tutorial as it is playing.
• Video 2 Option 1: Loading Program Onto an Ozobot Manually *this goes into Bluetooth a little bit
• Video 2 Option 2: Loading a Program Onto an Ozobot through Bluetooth
• Day 3 Outline:
• Go over objective and agenda (5 min)
• Present the “Mission Objective” and requirements, making sure to go over the meaning and significance of the tasks their Ozobots will be completing: collecting a rock sample, completing radiation testing, collecting a water sample, and refueling the rover.
• Present how students will be graded
• The rest of the class is work time. Students should start with planning their drawn path on the Mars map.
• Days 4-5 Outline:
• Review objective and agenda (5 min.)
• Work Time. Students should be finishing their plan for their path and starting to put together their code in Ozoblockly.
• Saving code: You will either need to create a class in Ozobot Classroom, save students’ in-progress codes to their individual devices, or take screenshots of their codes and upload them to a Google Slide on Google Classroom.
• By the end of Day 5, students should have completed the final step of recording a Flipgrid video of their Ozobot rover performing its tasks in order.

Example Drawn Path

• This is the path that many of my students eventually came up with. This example would be in the “4” category on the rubric for the “Drawn Path” requirement–it has a path drawn that follows the instructions and parameters AND has numbers signifying the order of stops/locations and distances, so I as the teacher know what the student is thinking.
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• I found that some of my students struggled with the concept of only turning at right angles, so I had to walk around the room and double check the paths they were drawing as they worked and clear up any misunderstandings.
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• I had students originally draw their path in expo marker on laminated maps so they could easily start over/try different paths.

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13 cm/5.25 in

7 cm/2.75 in

7 cm/2.75 in

19 cm/7.25 in

6 cm/2.5 in

12 cm/4.75 in

NOTE: 1 cm = 1 “step” in Ozoblockly

(1 cm = .39 inches)

ADVANCED

Drawn Path

• This is an example of a path that was successful for more advanced students, or students with more prior programming experience.

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• I gave these students protractors so they could measure the non-right angles and be able to translate them into code in Ozoblockly.

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13 cm/5.25 in

10 cm/3.75 in

19 cm/7.25 in

8 cm/3.1875 in

6 cm/2.375 in

Example Solution in Ozoblockly

These are the only two code blocks your students will need (though you can let them add a celebratory spin or other move at the end when their Ozobot gets back to base!

ADVANCED Solution in Ozoblockly (Still Level 2)

Important notes:

• rotating “left” or “right”= 90 degrees
• rotating slight left” or slight right = 45 degrees
• “rotate left” + “rotate slight left” = 135 degrees

Assessment (This rubric assumes use of Nearpod and Flipgrid)

Differentiation

Spatial awareness: You will find that some students struggle more than others with keeping track of the path their Ozobot needs to take and in what order. Here are some suggestions to help with this:

• Ozobot placeholder: As a student is completing their codes in Ozoblockly, they should trace where they are in their code with their Ozobot. The Ozobot should be OFF for this. They can also use their turned-off Ozobot to follow their code and make sure that the codes are correct.
• 1 step and a time: These students may get very frustrated and want to give up easily because the larger task seems too overwhelming. Encourage the student to get their Ozobot to the 1st task, then if they are successful at that, the 2nd, etc. You can remind them that computer scientists are always iterating–checking their work and making improvements.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

Gifted Students/Older Students/Students with prior coding experience:

• Have these students complete their path with diagonals instead of only right angles–this requires more knowledge of angles. See Slides 10 and 12 for example solutions.
• Level 4 or 5 in Ozoblockly- Levels 4 and 5 of the movement codes in Ozoblockly require more conversion (converting centimeters to millimeters) and understanding of exact angle degrees. See Slide 13 for an example solution.
• Line-Following Codes: Starting at Level 3, Ozoblockly has line-following codes. Once a student has completed the initial project, challenge them to complete the same path (or forge a new path!) using the line-following codes. The Ozo-Town games are a great way to get used to line-following codes:
• OzoTown Basic: OzoBlockly Games : OzoTown 1
• OzoTown Advanced: https://games.ozoblockly.com/ozotown-advanced