Hummingbird Bit In this project, students will be introduced to autonomous vehicles through the building, coding, and testing of a Rover. Students will first learn about autonomous vehicles and discuss their benefits and drawbacks and then build a Rover using the project pack. Students will learn how the Hummingbird and computer programming through the use of sensors, along with topics in computer science such as loops and conditionals can control the motion of the Rover. Finally, students will complete a challenge by programming their Rover to navigate a maze autonomously.
Materials
Project Overview
Project Audience & Timeline
The curriculum for this project is intended for 6th-8th grade students and consists of eight lessons, designed to be completed over eight 45-minute class periods. This curriculum can be adapted to a longer block of time as needed to best meet student needs.
Essential Questions
How can vehicles be programmed to be operated autonomously?
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to…
- Define the meaning of autonomous vehicles.
- Build a Rover by following specific instructions.
- Investigate the input values required to make the Rover move in specific directions.
- Apply pause, movement, and repeat blocks to make the Rover move in specific patterns.
- Understand the role of sensors.
- Apply conditional and Boolean statements with the use of sensors to define Rover outputs.
- Analyze code for errors.
- Evaluate the success of final products.
Standards Alignment
ISTE
1.1.a, 1.1.d, 1.3.d, 1.4.a, 1.4.b, 1.4.c, 1.4.d, 1.5.a, 1.5.b, 1.5.c, 1.5.d, 1.7.c
CSTA
2-CS-02, 2-CS-03, 2-DA-08, 2-DA-09, 2-AP-10, 2-AP-12, 2-AP-13, 2-AP-15, 2-AP-17, 2-AP-18
NGSS
MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-3, MS-ETS1-4
Materials Needed
- Rover Project Pack
- Hummingbird Premium Kit
- Screwdriver
- Computer, Laptop, or Chromebook
- AA Batteries or rechargeable power bank
Extension Activities
Coming soon!