8th Grade Technology
he eighth grade technology class will be focusing on design and some programming concepts. We will be expanding upon topics that were covered in the sixth and seventh grade technology classes. Our primary focus for the nine weeks is building the Protobot and completing a more in depth version of the design process. We will be working in groups for the entire nine week grading period. In some cases the students in eighth grade will be allowed to choose their groups (I do reserve the right to change groups).
The eighth grade class will have more responsibility of getting things done on time. We will have less checkpoints during the projects to check progress, this is used so that the students will also be learning some project management skills. Some of the underlying concepts in the eighth grade is that the students learn how to take charge of a project and how to manage a project. The design project will have well defined roles and responsibilities for each student in the group.
We will be covering the following units: Unit 1: Introduction to Robotics (Vol 3), Unit 2: Squarebot, Unit 3: Advanced Programming, Unit 4: 8th Grade Challenge
Unit 1 will cover similar topics to the other two grades Introduction to Robotics but we will go more in depth about the career opportunities with robotics and automation. We will also cover how NASA uses robotics in outer space and how the armed forces use robotics in battlefield situations.
Unit 2 will have the student groups complete a robot that is called the Protobot. The Protobot is a robot that has a large wheeled drive system with an arm attached to it. This robot will also have a roller claw which will use small wheels as an accumulator for the robot. This robot will be able to pick up water and Gatorade bottles in a classroom competition that we will have in each class.
Unit 3 will have students work on programming their Protobots to do things similar things to seventh grade, but we will go more in depth on the detail of how the programming actually works. We will be making remote control code that the Protobot used to allow the students to drive them with remotes. We will also do some advanced programming with sensors. For instance, we are going to use and ultrasonic sensor and have the robot slow down as it approaches a wall (seventh graders use the ultrasonic sensor to make the robot stop a set distance away from the wall). We will also do some programs that use multiple sensors in a single program, also.
Unit 4 will have the students follow the design process to make a robot that will accomplish a task. The student groups will have roles that students will need to fill and each student will be responsible for his/her own role in the group. The tasks will vary from nine weeks to nine weeks. The groups will be following the design process and will be using more detail within their design process steps.
This class will have a course exam at the end of the six weeks. We will review for the exam the day before the test.
The eighth grade class will have more responsibility of getting things done on time. We will have less checkpoints during the projects to check progress, this is used so that the students will also be learning some project management skills. Some of the underlying concepts in the eighth grade is that the students learn how to take charge of a project and how to manage a project. The design project will have well defined roles and responsibilities for each student in the group.
We will be covering the following units: Unit 1: Introduction to Robotics (Vol 3), Unit 2: Squarebot, Unit 3: Advanced Programming, Unit 4: 8th Grade Challenge
Unit 1 will cover similar topics to the other two grades Introduction to Robotics but we will go more in depth about the career opportunities with robotics and automation. We will also cover how NASA uses robotics in outer space and how the armed forces use robotics in battlefield situations.
Unit 2 will have the student groups complete a robot that is called the Protobot. The Protobot is a robot that has a large wheeled drive system with an arm attached to it. This robot will also have a roller claw which will use small wheels as an accumulator for the robot. This robot will be able to pick up water and Gatorade bottles in a classroom competition that we will have in each class.
Unit 3 will have students work on programming their Protobots to do things similar things to seventh grade, but we will go more in depth on the detail of how the programming actually works. We will be making remote control code that the Protobot used to allow the students to drive them with remotes. We will also do some advanced programming with sensors. For instance, we are going to use and ultrasonic sensor and have the robot slow down as it approaches a wall (seventh graders use the ultrasonic sensor to make the robot stop a set distance away from the wall). We will also do some programs that use multiple sensors in a single program, also.
Unit 4 will have the students follow the design process to make a robot that will accomplish a task. The student groups will have roles that students will need to fill and each student will be responsible for his/her own role in the group. The tasks will vary from nine weeks to nine weeks. The groups will be following the design process and will be using more detail within their design process steps.
This class will have a course exam at the end of the six weeks. We will review for the exam the day before the test.