A few years ago, I reframed my 6th grade computer class to focus on using computer science skills to help others. (Set-up, Activity 1) And this year I finally got to do our robotics project! In groups based on interest, the students design a robot to help a particular community. This year’s projects included robo-guide dogs, ocean cleaning robots, wearable medical devices, and more.

Over the course of a few class periods, students brainstorm, prototype using basic supplies (cardboard, type, paper, etc), gather feedback from another group, and iterate on their design. If I had more time, I’d love to involve stakeholders from the community each project was helping. I would also like time to iterate their design to include upgraded materials. The students had a lot of fun with this project and many even created commercials to market their robots! Here are the student-facing directions including a rubric.