The SPIRIT Project Educational Robotics Lesson Building Block Template Author: __Bob Ernesti ___________________________ Grade Level: _8__  Date: 7-24____________

Directions: Definition of a Lesson Building Block:  This is a "Lesson Building Block" from the SPIRIT educational robotics institute.  A 'lesson building block' is in essence an educational activity that might be later turned into a more formal classroom lesson by a creative teacher.  The SPIRIT Institute is striving to put a variety of "lesson building blocks" up on the web for the potential use of teachers as they try to prepare more formal educational lessons using the TekBot robotics platform. 

I.  Concepts  (Give a list of one or more concepts that might be taught using this activity)

                     Mean, median, mode, range

II.  Standards

      (Give a list of one or two local, state or national standards that appear to apply)

8.5.1  Students will collect, construct, and interpret data displays and compute mean, median, and mode.

III.  Learning Activity Context (Describe the overall context for the learning activity)

     Context:     _x_ Moving TekBot    __ Building a TekBot     __ Engineering / Notebook     __ Other  

     Abstract:  (Give a 1 paragraph abstract of the activity)

           Build a maze with 2 ramps.  Have 4 groups of students. Do 3 timed trials with the Tekbot to see how long it takes.  Use this data to determine mean, median, mode (if it exists), and range.

IV.  Teacher and Student Suggestions/Tips

     (Provide some general tips or suggestions for trying the activity)

When building the ramps with boards, construction paper or sandpaper will be needed for the Tekbot to get up on the ramp.

V.  Teacher Questions 

      (Give a list of questions that teachers might ask students during the activity)

1. What are the mean, median, mode, and range?
2. Would the height of the ramps affect your overall time through the maze?
3. Would no ramps affect your speed to get through the maze?

VI.  Assessment Ideas

     (Give an idea or two about how the lesson activity might be assessed)

  1.  Use a rubric to assess maze design. 

  2.  Quiz on mean, median, mode, and range.

VII.  Other Information

     (Give any other information that might be useful or a visual or two)

Data could be put into an Excel spreadsheet and graphed.

VIII.  Materials needed:

     Masking tape to make boundaries for maze.

      Small pieces of scrap lumber (short 2 by 4s and plywood wide enough for the Tekbot)

              for the ramps.

     Construction paper or sandpaper (so Tekbot can get up on the ramp.)

     Notebooks to record the 3 time trials for each group.