3: Lego WeDo Kit Lesson Activity

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Name: Aleksandra Johnson                                      Date: 11 September 2021 Subject: Science                                                          Grade Levels: 3rd- 4th

Topic Lesson   Animal Expression Lego Activity Animal Expression (lego.com)

Learning Objective  The students will discover and demonstrate the various methods of animal communication by modeling a lego representation using the WeDo 2.0 lego set and coding software.

Materials Needed  Inspiration Whiteboards (1 per student)  Dry Erase Markers (1 per student) Animal Communication Anchor Chart Ideation LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 Core Set  Student Building Worksheet Example Sheet  Brainstorm Sheet  Implementation  WeDo 2.0 Programming App (Ipads) WeDo 2.0 | Software Download | LEGO® Education  Popsicle Stick Name Tags

Educational Standards  3-LS4-2: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing. 4-PS4-3: Generate and compare multiple solutions that use patterns for the transfer of information. 4-LSI-2: Use a model to describe how animals receive different types of information through their senses, then process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in a range of different ways.

ISTE Standards  1a) Set professional learning goals to explore and apply teaching strategies for integrating CT practices into learning activities in ways that enhance student learning of both the academic discipline and CS concepts. 1c) Leverage CT and CS experts, resources, and profession learning networks to continuously improve practice integrating CT across content areas. 1d) Develop resilience and perseverance when approaching CS and CT learning experiences, build comfort with ambiguity and open-ended problems and see failure as an opportunity to learn and innovate. 5a) Evaluate and use CS and CT curricula, resources, and tools that account for learner variability to meet the needs of all students. 5c) Use a variety of instructional approaches to help students frame problems in ways that can be represented as computational steps or algorithms to be performed by a computer.

ISTE Standards Applied  1a) The learning objective associated with the lesson integrates CT practices that enhance student learning through the design thinking model (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) and the four elements of CT (decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, algorithm design). 1c) CT and the design thinking model are the frameworks used to build the lesson plan. Additionally, CS is encouraged by having students use Ipads to code their models.  1d) During class discussion, open-ended questions will be utilized to encourage student thinking and provoke creative ideas. Through class discussion and the building process, a reiteration not to look at failure as the end or in a negative connotation.  5a) The CT elements and CS are both used throughout the lesson.   5c) Various instructional approaches are incorporated into the lesson to appeal to as many if not all students, evoke creativity, and provide knowledge.

Inspiration  Empathize: learn about the student and understand their needs Define: create a way to appropriately portray information to students  Pattern Recognition: mapping similarities and differences in decomposed problems, which is an important skill to have for making predictions Decomposition: helps learners break down complex problems into easier to manage pieces  Lesson Breakdown  In this stage, the teacher introduces the key objective while simultaneously learning what students know and like. This would be a good time to administer some sort of pre-assessment activity to gauge students' understanding of the topic. Once there is a sense of students thinking, the teacher must formulate a plan to relay information over the topic.  "In this lesson, we are going to explore the different ways in which animals communicate and interact with one another by using the WeDo 2.0 Lego Kits. However, before we get started I want everybody to write down on their whiteboard what their favorite animal is. On the count of three, I want everyone to hold their board up nice and high for everybody to see. *Name some animals written*. Now can somebody tell me how humans communicate with each other? *Wait for answers and respond as necessary*. Now that we all understand some ways humans communicate, can somebody tell me how animals communicate? *Wait for answers and respond as necessary*. Very good! Before we move on, I want all eyes on the screen because I am going to play a video about animal communication.  *Talk through completed anchor chart with students and mention pattern recognition and decomposition*. While talking through the anchor chart ask questions such as these ones. What is the purpose of these communicative methods? What animals communicate in certain ways? Compared to humans, what ways do animals show non-verbal and verbal communication skills?"

Ideation  Collaborate: brainstorm various ideas as a class  Prototype: build a representational idea of the topic discussed to test   Lesson Breakdown  In this stage, the teacher communicates with students on what to expect in terms of the lesson activity. The class will also begin brainstorming ideas on how to appropriately approach the activity to meet students' needs. Everybody should get the opportunity to offer their creative solutions. After the class discussion, students will start their activity.  "We now understand how and why animals communicate, so we are going to showcase our knowledge by brainstorming and building a prototype using legos. Our task for today is to build a model using the pieces in this lego kit and program it by using the coding software on the Ipad to make the model imitate a communication method. *Show Examples*. *Hand out brainstorm sheet*. Once I say to begin, I want everyone to brainstorm some ideas on their piece of paper in front of them. It does not matter how you choose to do so as long as you have something. You can write sentences, draw pictures, use lists, or come up with your own methods. There are questions on the top to guide your thinking if you get stuck or aren't sure where to begin. Just so we are all clear, you are to brainstorm a lego model and include details of what would be included to appropriately illustrate to others animal communication. If there are no questions, you may begin. *Allow students to work for the desired amount of time (2-4 minutes)*. Start finishing up your brainstorming so we can discuss. *Have students discuss their ideas with the class*. *Hand students lego kit*. You all are now going to build a prototype of your ideas. This process is important with any form of building. Remember this does not have to be perfect because it is simply a rough draft. If at first you do not succeed keep going. There is no right or wrong answer to this so have fun but also keep in mind the task at hand and everything we learned. Also if you do not finish that is okay. Just try your best and do as much as you can. If you need help or have any questions please do not hesitate to ask me or one of your peers. *Allow students to begin building*."

Implementation  Test/Deliver: share the product for feedback  Algorithm Design: creating step-by-step logical series of instructions for solving problems Abstraction: the process of taking away or removing unnecessary features from something in order to make a set of essential features  Lesson Breakdown  In this stage, students will create their coding sequence to make their model work in the way they intend it to. This would also be the time for a teacher to give students an assessment or test since this would be the end of the lesson. Students will share their models with the class to hear feedback. Feedback allows for abstraction. Students may test their models before presenting them to others to fine-tune their creations. If time is allotted, testing can also be done after changes are made.  "It appears as though everyone is finished or almost finished with their model, so we are going to move on to the final part of the build. *Allow students to grab Ipads*. We are going to code our devices by creating an algorithm to represent the communicative method chosen. *Explain algorithm & coding*. *Show students how to code their devices as a class*. Congratulations you now have all successfully built and coded a model. As I mentioned a prototype is simply a rough draft. Any rough draft requires abstraction or finetuning. With that being said, I am going to group everybody into *(#, pairs, threes, fours....)* so your peers can provide you with feedback. We want feedback but please remember to be nice and appropriately share your opinions. *Allow students time to converse in their groups*. Everyone should have gotten some form of commentary from their classmate, so now we are going to officially remove the fluff from our models. I will give everybody time to make changes to or complete their product. for your final testing. If you feel as though your creation is complete as is please sit quietly and allow others to work. You may also see if other classmates could use your help. *Allow students to finetune*. We are now going to share our final products with the class. When I pull your popsicle stick you will come to the front, test your completed lego model, and share the following information with the class. A brief description of brainstorming ideas. The communicative method(s) trying to showcase. A purpose of that method."

Additional Links  excerpts-4677.pdf (iste.org) 4 elements of CT Standards   wedo-curriculum.pdf (lego.com) WeDo 2.0 Curriculum  Animal Expression (lego.com) Unit Plan  How do animals communicate? Educational Video for Kids - Bing video Animal Communication Video