🤖 The Human Robot v0.1.0
One child is the robot and does exactly what the steps say, nothing more. The class finds out that steps have to be exact and in order, which is what an algorithm is.
You will need
- The printable's picture cards, cut apart (one set for each pair)
- A table
- A pencil and a sheet of paper for each pair
The lesson, step by step
Meet the robot
Say that a robot is a helper that does exactly what it is told and has no ideas of its own. It cannot guess. Ask a volunteer to be the robot and stand up straight. Tell the class the robot will only do the thing you say, in the way you say it.
Give it a first job
Ask the robot to touch its head. Nothing happens, because "touch" and "head" are not steps the robot knows. Now say "lift your right hand", then "move your hand up until it is on top of your head". Let the class see that the second try worked because it was smaller and exact.
Stack a paper snack
Put the five picture cards (bread, cheese, tomato, lettuce, bread) in a pile on the table, face up, in a mixed order. The robot's job is to make a paper snack stack, bread at the bottom and the other bread on top. Pairs take turns: one child is the robot, one gives the steps, one word at a time. The robot does only what it hears.
Let it go wrong
When the robot picks up two cards at once, or puts the bread in the wrong place, do not rescue it. Say "The robot did exactly what you said. What did it hear?" Wrong steps are the point of the lesson, not a mistake by the child.
Write the steps down
Each pair writes (or draws) their steps in order on the sheet: "1. Pick up the bread. 2. Put it on the table." Then they swap with another pair, and the new pair follows the steps with their own robot. If it works, the steps are good. If not, they mark the step that did not work.
Say what you learned
Sit in a circle. Ask: "What made a step a good step?" Collect words from the children: in order, small, exact, one thing at a time. Say that people who write steps for computers do the same thing, and the steps are called an algorithm.
Questions to ask while they work
- What did the robot hear?
- What would you say instead, in smaller steps?
- Does the order matter? What if we did step 3 before step 2?
- How would you know the steps were good, before the robot tried them?
If it goes fast
- Add a rule that the robot may only use five different steps, and see what the class chooses.
- Make a path across the floor with tape and write steps to walk a robot along it.
- Ask the robot to do the same job with the steps in a different order, and talk about what changed.
The printable
Cut the cards apart. A pair needs the five picture cards and the step words. The sheet is for writing the steps once the robot has tried.
🤖 Human robot picture cards and step sheet
Name: ______________________
- 🍞 bread (bottom)
- 🧀 cheese
- 🍅 tomato
- 🥬 lettuce
- 🍞 bread (top)
- pick up
- put it on
- stop
Our robot steps
1. Write or draw the steps in order. One step in each box.
2. Which step did not work the first time? What did you change?
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