Young Innovator's Contest

Young Innovator’s Contest

Lesson Plan for Grade 5

Prepared by Mrs. Davis

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

Being in “gig city” and having an innovation district in Chattanooga, there is a big push for technology in our city. As part of that our city often looks for ways to recognized innovation in it’s inhabitants. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce created a Young Innovator’s Award program as part of it’s upcoming Spirit Of Innovation event. The criteria were shared with our school and can be found here: http://www.chattanoogachamber.com/media/yifc.pdf

EDUCATION STANDARDS

ISTE Student Standard #4  - Innovative Designer- Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.

ISTE Student Standard #5 - 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.

ISTE Student Standard #6 - Creative Communicator- Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

OBJECTIVES

1. Students will learn what it means to be an innovator
2. Student will use mind mapping/graphic organizer to brainstorm ideas in their life that are problems that need to be solved
3. Students will creatively come up with a solution to a real world issue and process how to solve the issue
4. Students will “pitch” their innovation to their teachers “Shark Tank” style and grow their communication skills.
5. 2 Students from each fifth grade class will then pitch their innovation to school educators. One student will then be chosen to be nominated by our school for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce’s Young Innovator Award program.

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Creative minds
• Materials to make prototype if they want to show something during their pitch
• Paper and pencil for graphic organizing or use Show Me app on iPad to map it.

VERIFICATION

Students are to understand that their innovation is being measured by the following criteria:

Stimulating:  Innovation offers measureable impact on the community

Tangible:  Innovation demonstrates discernable value

Exposure:  Innovation promotes STEM knowledge and related field growth

Awesome:  Innovation has a wow factor

Moving:  Innovation shows leadership, initiative and potential for further gains

ACTIVITY

Meeting 1: Instructor will share the following slideshow presentation with students: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FmnhRu7qx-K2stDyBigVa1-K3lugXLPOu4Yg0vwufwk/edit?usp=sharing and discuss some different innovations that we are all aware of like lint brushes, taco stand holders, and the device that makes all the toothpaste come out of the tube.

Students then start thinking about their days from the moment they wake up until they go to sleep and think of problems they see that need to be solved. Students then mind map that problem with possible solutions.

Meeting 2: Students run with these ideas and create a pitch for their innovation to their teachers. They may also create a simple prototype of the product to share as they pitch. They then pitch the idea to the teacher. The teachers then choose 2 students from each class to pitch to more administrative educators in your system.

Meeting 3: The representatives pitch their innovation “shark tank” style to a body of educators in a setting that seems formal. They leave and educators choose one person to move on.

Meeting 4: In front of whole grade level all 6 innovators are acknowledged for their ideas with a gift card and the grand winner from the school is then named.

Lesson recap written by Mrs. Davis:

This has by far has been my favorite lesson this year! It is partially because I like to think of myself as an innovator but also because I don't think we find enough ways in the day to day schooling for our students to show their creativity. I believe innovation happens when need intersects with passion in a creative mind. Innovative thinking doesn't come natural for all people. I explained it takes risks to thinking like an innovator because every new idea has the chance of not working.

I was blown away with these students's ideas. They were as varied as the day is long! It also made me excited to see it wasn't the "same old students" that always excel at things that necessarily did the best with this lesson plan. Any time I see that I get excited as an educator because I know we are tapping into the gifts and talents and the uniqueness of our students. We are showing them that we recognize that in education "one size does not fit all." I can't wait to do this year after year.

I am about to head to the fifth grade student body and let a boy named Blake know that his idea for a telescoping hydraulic system that makes watching your ipad in bed easier is the winner. His written pitch said  "Let’s say that you want to watch your pad in bed for Youtube or Netflix, well this will let you! It comes down from the ceiling from a hydraulic system that you control from the app,or a remote, your choice. But how does it stay? Well you use nails and it even adjusts to the smallest of ipads like the mini ipad. So what are you waiting for? Let’s see this invention!"

As the adults in the boardroom heard this we couldn't help but also think of ways this could be used for adaptive technology for individuals with special needs. What a great idea!

Introducing Dash & Dot Coding to 3rd Grade

Introducing Dash & Dot: Unplugged 1 of 2

Lesson Plan for 3rd Grade

Prepared by Ms. Yandell

OVERVIEW & PURPOSE

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the students to Dash & Dot smart robotics.  They will be introduced to programming and how it is used to make robots to certain functions.  This will be a two part lesson, the first being an unplugged experience.

EDUCATION STANDARDS

ISTE Standards (technology standards)

Creativity and Innovation - Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and process using technology.

Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making - Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.

• Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions

Technology operations and concepts - Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems and operations.

• Understand and use technology systems
• Select and use applications effectively and productively
• Troubleshoot systems and applications
• Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies

OBJECTIVES

1. Comprehension
2. Problem Solving
3. Creativity
4. Planning out a series of instructions
5. What comes to mind when you hear the word robot?
6. What is a robot?
7. What is a computer program?
8. Why do we use computer programs for Dash & Dot?
9. What are things that robots can be programmed to do?
10. What are things that robots can do to help our community?

MATERIALS NEEDED

1. Dash & Dot
2. 10 Ipads
3. Pencil and Paper

VERIFICATION

Steps to check for student understanding

1. After today’s lesson, will you all be ready to program the dash robots perform different functions?
2. How does programming work?
3. Were you able to work well in your group, and give proper instructions to your puppeteer?
4. If things did not go well, what could you have done differently?

ACTIVITY

Unplugged activity - Puppeteer

First demonstrate this activity with you, the teacher, as the ‘puppet’ and the class giving instructions.

Pass out Puppeteer Sheet 1. Make students believe that you have not seen what is on the sheet. Instruct students to direct you to draw the sketch on the sheet. Show students how specific the instructions need to be.

• The instructions must include quantity and specificity.
• If a student says “draw a circle,” draw a tiny circle, or if a student says “draw a circle inside of a square,” make the square much larger than the circle to show that size is required.
• If a student says “draw a circle and a square,” draw the shapes side-by-side, or if a student says “draw an arrow”, draw it far from the other objects, or at the wrong angle to show that position is required.

Then, pair students up and give one student in each group Puppeteer Sheet 2. This student is the puppeteer of the group. Instruct puppeteers to make sure their partner does not see the sketch on the sheet. Instruct puppeteers to direct their partner to draw the figure on the sheet.

First Activity with Dash & Dot - introduction

• Teacher holds up the robots (starting with Dash)
• Ask the students some questions - If we want to work with this robot, how do we get started? Once they mention that you have to turn it one, ask them for where they think the on/off switch is?
• Turn on Dash
• Notice that at this point the students can name Dash.
• At this point Dash will make some noises. Students will automatically wonder where those sounds are coming from.
• They will also notice that Dash will move his/her head and colors will be displayed. Use this opportunity to point out the different “features” of Dash (wheels, sensors, buttons, speaker, colors, etc)

Second Activity with Dash & Dot - “Go” App

1. Display the app controls through the projector onto the board at the front of the room
2. Look at the different “icons” and again ask the students what they think will happen.
3. Once the class has gone through all of the sounds, then place the robot on the floor and experiment with the different options.
4. Watching Dash move around will cause even more excitement for the students. Give different students a chance to pick different options to see what happens.

Third (and final activity) with Dash & Dot - “Path” App

(make sure that Dash is on the floor, or somewhere where he/she can’t get hurt)

1. Teacher will display the “Path” App
2. Start with the first App which is basically a grid. Hand the iPad to one of the students have them draw a line with their finger. Might want to start off with a simple straight line. Depending on the amount of floor space available will determine how much of a line you wish to have the student draw. (You can also leave it to trial and error, so that the students can see what happens when Dash runs out of room … runs into an obstacle)
3. Ask the students what they think will happen.
4. How much space is one square?
5. Drag up the different sound effects to see what happens.

Basically this activity is all about exploring the app. Have the students try different things, ask them to think about what might happen, does what happen fit with their hypotheses (or expectations), if not, why not?

Recap written by Jessica Yandell:

This week, in one of the third grade classrooms I was able to introduce my good friends, Dash & Dot!  The focus of this lesson was to get the students thinking about coding programs, and introduce them to the apps and the robots.  I knew that the kids would be excited, so I decided to do their unplugged activity before introducing Dash & Dot.  This was a two part activity which was called puppeteer.  

The first part of the activity, the whole class was to act like a puppeteer, and tell me step by step how to perform a task. I gave each table a piece of paper to share with a picture of an object on it, and the goal was for everyone in the class to tell me how to draw the object using only verbal cues.  They had to be very specific in giving their directions in the proper order to ensure I drew the correct object.  Everyone was excited and engaged, and if I drew something wrong they say, “no, the line does not go vertically it is supposed to go diagonally through the object.”  The students were learning how important it is to follow a specific sequence of instructions to be successful, which is the basics to coding!

Next, I allowed the class to separate into groups of two, and do the same activity with a different picture. One partner drew the object, whereas the other member gave the drawing instructions, and made sure their partner did not see what the object looked like.  This was a fun exercise to start with, because it allowed collaboration and persistence to be successful!

The last part of the lesson was presenting my new “friends.”  I called two volunteers, which I let them uncover what was in my bag!  The whole class was excited!  We talked briefly about what robots are and things that they can do.  I wanted them to understand how our society uses them for many things, such as in the medical field, agriculture, etc.  We started running out of time, so I briefly showed the students that I used apps to write programs which tell the robots what to do.  Before the lesson, I had programmed Dash & Dot to perform and introduction for the students, where they said, “hello, nice to meet you,” and “ awe man, you’re making me blush!”  The kids loved it and were thrilled they would be able to use them for future projects!

(lesson adapted from makewonder.com)