10-11 Computational Thinking (with Ozobots)

Before class:

- Check on a classmate's computer to see if your Genius Hour Project is accessible or not. Talk with me if you have questions.

PB&J Sandwich Flowchart:

Flowchart by Navaja and Sarah

Flowchat by Andrew, Alee, & Mike

Ozobots:

This is what is found on their official website: "STEAM Made Simple–Coding robots for the next generation of creators (Grades K–12)".

If you turn Ozobot over (while it is powered on), on the bottom, you can see 5 openings (BIT) or 8 (EVO) with lights shining out of them. An optical sensor lives in each of these openings. These sensors are Ozobot’s “eyes.” Each of the sensors sees how bright the paper underneath is. This way, Ozobot can differentiate the black and white parts of the paper to know where the line is!

We are going to play with this Ozobots:

• Try it out by drawing different lines or shapes with the color coding schemes.

• How do Ozobots make decisions?

• Find the way home

• Free drawing

Now discuss with a partner about how Ozobots can be used to promote computational thinking (four facets) and how can they be integrated with K-12 curriculum.

Computational thinking and 4C's:

Some people propose that there should be 5C's for 21st century skills: 4C's + Computational Thinking. What do you think?

Genius Hour POST #2 Initial research (Due next Friday)

Your may start your initial research by simply searching in Google, social media, wikipedia, news report, etc. It is important to think critically about the information you found. Questions for you to think about:

• What sources of information were you searching for?

• What have you found out in this initial search?

• Has your question been narrowed down or has it opened up further questioning?

• Where do you plan to find more relevant resources?

• What is your next step?

HOMEWORK:

1. Read The 5th ‘C’ of 21st Century Skills? Try Computational Thinking (Not Coding). Think critically and then share your thoughts about whether computational thinking should be one of the 21st century skills in this Google form. This assignment is worth one point, due October 14, before class.

2. Work on your Genius Hour project. Post #2 is due October 18th, Friday, before class.