Help your class understand the importance of exploration using robots. with a resource that provides a short history of robotics as a lead into looking at Martian robotic exploration missions. The activity specifically looks at the...

Engineers team up to design and construct an 18-inch-long robotic arm that can successfully pick up a paper cup. Each group is given the exact same set of materials, but it is up to them to decide what to use and how to use it. It is a...

How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...

Experience collecting rock samples using a robotic arm with an activity that has pairs work together to operate a robotic arm. One pupil serves as the eyes and the other operates the controller. The objective is to be the fastest pair to...

Don't be so emotional! Scholars take part in an activity where they consider how future robots will be able to show emotions. They place paper bags over their heads, act out emotions through body movements, and have others guess the...

Two activities work with a fiction and nonfiction book about robots‚—Robot Dreams by Sara Varon and Robot by Roger Bridgman. Scholars read each story, then build a robot out of found objects, examine robot sensors, and search for...

How do robots move? A presentation shows viewers the different types of configurations of that help robots move and lists the advantages and disadvantages of each of the configurations.

Tap into the desire to learn about computer codes. Pupils apply the Tap Code and the Polybius Square to send secret codes using sound. They design a code that tells a robot what movements to make and then test out their code using one of...

Think like a human, act like a robot. Scholars program a human robot to travel through an obstacle course. One member of the team then becomes the robot and acts out the code. Hopefully, this human robot will make it through the course!

How accurate are robots? Groups draw lines by moving robots backwards and forwards by one rotation of the wheels. Using the appropriate formula, they determine the percent error in the length of the lines in relation to the calculated...

Assign groups of middle school oceanographers to research one of the following underwater robots; ABE, Herculues, ROPOS, RCV-150, Tiburon, or general purpose ROVs. An included handout guides them through information to be gathered. Each...

What is water worth to you? The answer probably depends on many different variables. Learners explore the value of water in space and what it takes to transport the resource to locations in a galaxy far far away. They then consider...

Can you do better than a robot? Teams write instructions for a hypothetical robot to build a structure. They test their instructions by acting them out to see if they produce the desired structure.

What better way to introduce the idea of a sequence than with robots! An educational lesson explains the classic Fibonacci sequence before pupils build and program a robot to move. Additionally, the lesson challenges individuals to...

The engineering design process meets laparoscopic surgical robots with an activity that is the last part in a series of 10 and brings all the lessons of the unit together. Teams design and build a remotely controlled laparoscopic device....

Students imagine how they might use a robot in their daily lives, explore advancements in artificial intelligence, investigate robotic technology under development, and prepare posters that show how robotic technology might be...

A general engineering quiz can be given at the beginning of your engineering or technology unit to stimulate interest. A wide variety of topics are touched by engineers, including the medical industry, energy production, building design,...

Get young programmers thinking about programming languages with an activity that asks class members to craft directions for one person (teacher, another adult, or a class mate) acting as a robot. Participants direct the robot to...

Introduce your classes to sensors and actuators in robots — specifically to the Roomba. Pupils develop programs that make Roomba utilize its different sensors.

Apply robotics to connect physical properties to chemical properties. Future engineers use robots to determine the melting points of various fats and oils. The robots can do this by measuring the translucency of the fats as they heat up.

Explore what it takes to service the Hubble telescope. In the set of three activities, groups investigate several aspects of the Hubble telescope, including robotic arms used during repairs, spacesuits, and extravehicular activity (EVA)...

It is a-maze-ing how lost one can get. Teams reconstruct a simple maze and solve it. Participants create an algorithm that a robot would follow in order to solve the maze as well. The activity includes an extension directing pupils to...

Learners explore design, construction, and teamwork as they design and develop robot arm at least 18 inches in length using common materials.

Sixth graders explore the development of technology in the 20th century.  In this chapter lesson, 6th graders read and discuss the literary content of chapter four, I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. They research the technology that was...