The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
Lights in a Tunnel Challenge for Edison Robots
Lights in a Tunnel Challenge for Edison Robots
A 6th-8th grade STEM lesson
Carrie Jenkins
6/3/24
Notes for teachers
This lesson can be taught in a regular classroom setting or in a club.
Students will work in small groups (2-3 students is ideal)
This lesson may take several class periods in order to solve the challenge.
It is important that students are already familiar with Edison Robots and have some experience coding with EdScratch.
Make sure all the batteries are fully charged prior to the lesson.
Students can construct their own track and tunnels using poster board (or foam board) and electrical tape or sharpie markers or you can have the Edison Mat printed for each group.
List of Materials
Computer Science Practices
Computer Science Standards
6.CS.T.1 Identify problems that can occur in computing devices and their components within a system.
6.CS.HS.1 Explain how hardware and software can be used to collect and exchange data.
6.AP.C.1, 7.AP.C.1, 8.AP.C.1 Design programs that combine control structures, including nested loops and compound conditionals.
6.AP.M.2 Use procedures to organize code and make it easier to reuse.
Arizona Educational Technology Standards
Computational Thinker - Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.
6-8.1.d. Students navigate a variety of technologies and transfer their skills to troubleshoot and learn how to use new technologies
6-8.3.d. Students explore real world problems and issues and actively pursue solutions for them.
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.
6-8.4.d. Students demonstrate an ability to persevere and handle greater ambiguity as they work to solve open-ended problems.
6-8.5.a. Students practice defining and solving problems by selecting technology for data analysis, modeling, and algorithmic thinking.
6-8.5.c. Students break problems into component parts, identify key pieces, and use that information to solve problems.
6-8.7.c. Students perform a variety of roles within a team, using age-appropriate technology to complete a project or solve a problem.
Arizona Science Standards
6.P4U2.5 Analyze how humans use technology to store (potential) and/or use (kinetic) energy.
● Objects can have stored energy (that is, the ability to make things change) either because of their chemical composition, their movement, their temperature, their position in a gravitational or other field.
● Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed.
● A system of objects may also contain stored (potential) energy, depending on their relative positions.
Science and Engineering Practices
Objective(s):
Agenda (1 or more class periods)
Intro/Driving Question/Opening
How can we program Edison to represent a train by following a “track” and turning on its lights when it enters a dark tunnel?
Edison’s Structure (Top)
Edison’s Structure (Bottom)
Did you know that over 100 trains pass through Flagstaff, AZ each day?!
Activity Instructions: Learning about the BNSF Railway
Review of EdScratch (Video)
Hands-on Activity Instructions: Tunnel Challenge
Answer Key Code! Code with Comments
Formative Assessment Summative Assessment
Ideas Ideas
Have students keep a record/log of programming codes they have tried. You can provide feedback on these logs either verbally or in writing as students work through solving the challenge. If students have google docs they can screen shot each code to put it in the log and make notes about how Edison responded to the code and what changes need to be made.
Teacher should be constantly circulating while students are working to observe successes and challenges of each group. Mini lessons can then be developed as needed based on student needs.
Have students share their behavior over time graphs in a community circle.
Editable Single-Point Rubric
Reflection
Provide students with the opportunity to reflect and share their challenges and successes:
Sample reflection questions:
Stemazing has fantastic behavior over time graphs! Consider having your students complete one after this challenge! Behaviors they could graph include: Comfort/knowledge of using EdScratch, Frustration level, Patience level, Group’s effectiveness of working together, etc.
Differentiation
Simplify the task for students who are overwhelmed by the challenge by dividing the task into sections:
--coding Edison to follow a line
--coding Edison to detect light
Provide students with part of the code and hints as they navigate through the challenge.
Spend some time having “share out” sessions throughout the challenge so that students can learn from other groups.
Make a “hint” board where students can add tips and hints for solving the challenge.
Remediation
Extension/Enrichment
Students can investigate and document all the light threshold values that will work to make the program successfully complete the challenge.
Instead of turning lights on the students can code Edison to use a different sensor such as sound or IR messaging.
Students who are successful in creating their program can design another program of their choice.
Have students complete the challenge by coding in EDPy instead of EDScratch.