Aaron's Robots!

One of Mrs. Yollis' former students, Aaron, came back to class today and shared about coding and robotics. It was perfect timing because this week is Hour of Code! 

Aaron talked about how robots use motors and sensors. He writes code programs to make his robots move and complete tasks. Some coding programs Aaron uses are java script from Code.org and some are the drag and drop block style used in Scratch.   

Here is the mechanical robot named EverStorm. 

Student were very interested to learn how to make a robot move, and asked intelligent questions to learn more. 

After some discussion, Aaron brought his two robots to the rug to see them perform the commands Aaron had programmed. 

The class was impressed!

What did you learn about robots from Aaron?

How are robots like the games and tasks on Code.org and Hour of Code?

Do you have any follow-up questions for Aaron? 

Hour of Code

Mrs. Yollis' class participated in the Hour of Code program! Heather's mom, who has a degree in computer science, came in and with Heather's help, taught the class how to write JavaScript. 

First, the class was introduced to some computer vocabulary.

Next we used the Khan Academy to learn JavaScript.

*     *     *    *     *

These are the steps we took to begin learning coding at the 

Khan Academy:

First, click on LEARN and select Computer programming.

Next, select Computer programming and click on  

+Create Program

Finally,  write code in the box on the left, and it will show you what you've created on the right. Tips for writing code can be found under the boxes.

Some people worked on the laptops. Notice the two yellow ellipses that have been coded.  

Others worked on the ipad. We did not use the ipad app. Instead, we went on Safari, located Khan Academy, and wrote code from there. Mrs. Wang made copies of the coding information from the Khan Academy site.

Mrs. Wang recommended making a background first. 

Here is the coding information for coloring:

Next, add some other shapes to create a picture. 

Thank you, Mrs. Wang, for making us into beginning coders! 

After school, Shayna went home and created this picture. She sent the class a screen shot and it became a post on our 365 photo blog. 

In the comment section of the Creative Code 365 post, Heather added a few lines of code that makes repeated shapes as you move the mouse. Everyone love it!

Here is that code:

background(0, 255, 17);

fill(255, 0, 0);

var draw = function() {

ellipse(mouseX, mouseY, 76, 70);

};

Thank you to Heather and her mom for a great first lesson on coding!

What did you like about coding?

What advice can you lend?