Arduino Learning Studiorobotics pathway

R08-U2 · usually age 8 · Little Inventors

Make It Move with Blocks

Can pictures tell a robot how to move?

Pilot unit plan · 4 sessions · not yet classroom-validated

Build: Block-controlled moving model

How picture cards can tell a robot to move, again and again: a count tile repeats a card, and a repeat band repeats a pair of cards. A classmate on a floor row and a card box robot on a table-top grid carry out the cards, and Robot Instructions' levels 6–7 put a count on a card on screen. Children predict where a row will stop, test it and change one count at a time.

  • Decide
  • Act

Who it is for

Age is a starting point, never a limit. A learner who can show what this unit starts from can begin here at any age.

How they learn
By making, moving and playing: ramps, wheels, levers, a classmate acting as a robot. Pictures and arrows instead of words; no code text.
The adult's role
An adult leads every session and prepares anything powered. Children never handle loose batteries, sharp tools or hot parts.
Session
45–60 minutes
Hardware
No controller needed: cardboard, wheels, gears; optional enclosed low-voltage modules. The adult prepares or checks any wiring. No loose batteries, coin cells, small magnets, sharp tools or hot parts.

Starts from

Builds, and what it is the input for

In the studio today

Sessions

  1. Session 1 · 45 min

    Can one card make the robot do it again?

    A repeat: one card with a count tile does the same step that many times. ⬆ ×5 does what five ⬆ cards do, and the robot ends in the same place. A repeat makes a row shorter and easier to check.

    The adult says first: “One card with a number means do it again. Count the steps with me.”

    Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

    1. ⬆ ⬆ ⬆ ⬆ ⬆ — picture: five forward cards in a row
    2. ⬆ ×5 — picture: one forward card with a five tile
    3. ★ — picture: the star on the last square
    4. 💡 — picture: the robot holding up the yellow light card
    5. ⛔ — picture: a raised hand: stop

    Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): repeat · count · again

    Timing (0 of 45 min at the screen)

    1. 10 minAway from the screen: The adult is the robot: walking pace, the stop card, five forward cards.
    2. 15 minAway from the screen: Five cards, then one card ×5: the robot stops on the same square.
    3. 15 minAway from the screen: Pairs choose a count tile for a nearer star; the robot shows the light card.
    4. 5 minAway from the screen: Sit together: which row was quicker to lay and to check?

    In the studio

    No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

    Hands-on

    Nothing is powered. Before the session the adult tapes a row of 6 big-step squares on a clear floor, like the long hall of Robot Instructions' level 6, every tape edge pressed flat, with a paper star taped flat on the last square. One robot on the grid at a time, on the first square facing along the row; everyone else sits outside its edge. First a partner lays five ⬆ cards beside the grid, never on the walking squares, and the adult reads them aloud one by one while the robot steps. Then the adult swaps the five cards for one ⬆ card with a ×5 count tile: the robot walks it and stops on the same square. Then the adult moves the star nearer, and each pair chooses the count tile for it; at the star the robot holds up the yellow light card, the robot's output.

    Evidence to collect

    The adult's note of which children chose the count tile that took the robot to the star, and a photo of one card row with its count tile (cards only).

    Predict
    Before the robot walks ⬆ ×5, every child points to the square where they think it will stop.
    Debug
    If the robot stops short or walks past the star, count the steps aloud together and compare them with the number on the count tile.
    Reflect
    Why is one card with a count easier to check than five cards?

    ⚠ Adult checks: Maze: a clear floor with the tape edges pressed flat, walking pace, no blindfolds. The robot child can always say “Stop!” or hold up the stop card, and the game stops at once. One robot on the grid at a time; everyone else sits outside its edge. Cards are laid beside the grid, never on the walking squares. Steps backwards are small, with the adult behind the robot.

    Works towards: Repeat

  2. Session 2 · 50 min

    Can the box robot follow a repeat?

    The same repeat on the table and on screen. The box robot is a card box with a face on its front; the operator child lifts it one square for each step and turns it on the spot for a turn card, exactly as the cards say. Then Robot Instructions, level 6 “The long hall” and level 7 “Big L”: a card carries a count.

    The adult says first: “Move the box robot one square for each step. Then try it on screen.”

    Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

    1. ▢ ⬆ — picture: the box robot with its face forward
    2. ⬆ ×4 — picture: a forward card with a four tile
    3. ↰ — picture: the box robot turning left on the spot
    4. ★ — picture: the star in the top row
    5. ▭ — picture: the shared tablet, one child at a time

    Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): repeat · count · turn left

    Timing (10 of 50 min at the screen)

    1. 15 minAway from the screen: The box robot on the table-top grid: lay the Big L cards and run them.
    2. 10 minAt the screen: Robot Instructions levels 6–7, one shared device, turns.
    3. 15 minAway from the screen: Back at the table: each pair runs its Big L with the box robot.
    4. 10 minAway from the screen: Sit together: count the cards the repeats saved.

    Hands-on

    Nothing is powered. On the table-top grid (6 squares by 5, like the board of Robot Instructions' level 7), the adult sets the box robot in the bottom-left square facing right, and a paper star in the top row, 4 squares to the right of the robot's column. Pairs lay ⬆ ×4 ↰ ⬆ ×4 beside the grid, and the operator lifts the box robot one square for each step and turns it on the spot for ↰. Then, for ten minutes at one shared tablet or computer, the adult opens Robot Instructions at level 6 and children take turns in level 6 “The long hall” and level 7 “Big L”, one level per child or pair, guessing before each run; the adult shows how to give a card its number. Back at the table, each pair shows its Big L with the box robot.

    Evidence to collect

    The adult's note of which pairs ran the Big L on the table and on screen, and a photo of a card row with its count tiles beside the grid (cards only).

    Predict
    Before each run, on the table or on screen, the pair points to the square where the robot will stop.
    Debug
    If the box robot misses the star, the operator runs the cards again one at a time, and the pair stops at the first count that takes it too far or not far enough.
    Reflect
    How many cards did the repeats save in the Big L?

    ⚠ Adult checks: Table-top grid (a planning choice): squares 10 cm wide on a large sheet taped flat, a low card wall along every edge. The operator lifts the box robot one square at a time; nothing is pushed off the table. The screen part is ten minutes at most, on one shared device.

    Works towards: Repeat

  3. Session 3 · 50 min

    What if the count is wrong?

    Predict, test and change: a wrong count sends the robot too far or not far enough, so the fix is to change one number. A repeat can hold more than one card: the repeat band does ⬆ ↰ four times and brings the robot back to where it started.

    The adult says first: “Guess where it stops. Test it. Change one number, then test again.”

    Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

    1. ⬆ ×5 ✗ — picture: a count tile with a red cross
    2. ⬆ ×4 ✓ — picture: the changed tile with a tick
    3. ⟦⬆ ↰⟧ ×4 — picture: the repeat band holding two cards
    4. ▢ ↺ — picture: the box robot back at its start

    Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): predict · change · repeat

    Timing (0 of 50 min at the screen)

    1. 10 minAway from the screen: The adult's row with a wrong count: predict where the robot stops.
    2. 20 minAway from the screen: Each pair runs it, changes one count and runs it again.
    3. 15 minAway from the screen: The repeat band: forward and turn left, four times round.
    4. 5 minAway from the screen: The adult photographs the rows (cards only).

    In the studio

    No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

    Hands-on

    Nothing is powered. On the table-top grid, with the star of session 2, the adult lays a row with one wrong count, ⬆ ×5 ↰ ⬆ ×4. Each pair predicts where the box robot will stop, the operator runs it, and it stops next to the star, one square too far along. The pair finds the count to change, changes it and runs it again. Then the repeat band: a long card strip with a ×4 tile at its end, holding ⬆ and ↰. From the bottom-left square, the operator does the two cards, then the two cards again, 4 times in all, while the pair counts; the box robot goes round a square and stops where it started, facing the way it started. A pair that is ready cuts its own count tile from paper along a thick line with rounded-end scissors, makes a band with ⬆ ×2 inside, and predicts the bigger square.

    Evidence to collect

    The adult's note of each pair's prediction and the count they changed, and a photo of the fixed row and the repeat band (cards only).

    Predict
    Before each run, the pair points to the square where they think the box robot will stop.
    Debug
    If the band does not bring the robot home, run it slowly, one card at a time, and count each time round the band aloud.
    Reflect
    Which number did you change, and how did you know it was the right one?

    ⚠ Adult checks: Table-top grid (a planning choice): squares 10 cm wide on a large sheet taped flat, a low card wall along every edge. The operator lifts the box robot one square at a time; nothing is pushed off the table. Scissors: only small scissors with rounded, blunt ends, used sitting down, with left-handed scissors for left-handed children. Children cut paper and thin card only.

    Works towards: Repeat

  4. Session 4 · 50 min

    Can we predict and change a robot's moves?

    Each pair predicts where one action sequence with repeats will take the box robot, tests it, then changes one count to reach a new star, and says what they changed and why.

    The adult says first: “Guess where it stops. Run it. Change one number to reach the new star.”

    Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

    1. ☝ ▢ — picture: a finger pointing to the predicted square
    2. ⬆ ×2 ↰ ⬆ ×3 💡 — picture: the adult's row of cards
    3. ★ ➡ — picture: the star moved one square right
    4. ⇄ ×3 — picture: one count tile changed

    Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): predict · change · test

    Timing (0 of 50 min at the screen)

    1. 10 minAway from the screen: The adult shows the row and the box robot; each pair predicts.
    2. 20 minAway from the screen: Each pair runs the row, then changes one count for the new star.
    3. 15 minAway from the screen: Show and tell: what did you change, and why?
    4. 5 minAway from the screen: The adult photographs both rows (cards only).

    In the studio

    No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

    Hands-on

    Nothing is powered. The adult tries the session's row on the table-top grid first. Each pair gets the adult's row, ⬆ ×2 ↰ ⬆ ×3 and then the light card, with the box robot in the bottom-left square facing right. The pair points to the square where they predict it will stop and show its light; the operator runs it, card by card, and holds up the yellow light card at the end. After the run, the adult puts the star on the square where the robot stopped, then moves it one square to the right, and the pair modifies one count to reach it, predicts again and runs it again. Each pair shows the adult its first row and its changed row and says what they changed and why.

    Evidence to collect

    The unit's evidence: each pair predicts where one action sequence with repeats will stop, tests it, then modifies one count to reach a new star and tests again, shown and told to the adult; kept as the adult's note of their prediction and their change, and photos of the first and the modified card rows, never of the children.

    Predict
    Before each run, the pair points to the square where the box robot will stop and show its light.
    Debug
    If the changed row misses the new star, the pair runs it one card at a time and stops at the first card where it leaves the path.
    Reflect
    What did your change do to the robot's path, and why?

    ⚠ Adult checks: Table-top grid (a planning choice): squares 10 cm wide on a large sheet taped flat, a low card wall along every edge. The operator lifts the box robot one square at a time; nothing is pushed off the table. Photos are of the build only, taken by the adult on the setting's device, following its photo policy: no child in the frame, no names visible, the build on the table or floor, not in a hand. Nothing is uploaded to this studio and no name goes into it; the adult's notes follow the setting's records policy.

    Works towards: Repeat

Materials

  • Per group of up to six: a big cardboard box of prepared parts (pre-cut by the adult), masking tape, glue sticks, crayons and large sheets of paper for drawings
  • Small scissors with rounded, blunt ends for every child, with left-handed pairs
  • The adult's picture cards for the session, drawn large (drawn by hand today; printable cards are planned)
  • Masking tape for a floor row of big-step squares on a clear floor (every edge pressed flat), a paper star taped flat and a stop card
  • A table-top grid: a large sheet ruled in 10 cm squares, 6 squares by 5, taped flat to the table, with a low card wall taped along every edge
  • The box robot: an empty card box about 8 cm across with a face drawn on its front, too big for the small-parts cylinder (checked by the adult)
  • Picture cards drawn large by the adult: forward, turn left, turn right, count tiles from ×2 to ×5, the repeat band (a long card strip with a ×4 tile) and a yellow paper light card
  • One tablet or computer with a web browser, shared, for Robot Instructions in session 2

⚠ Safety before any session

  • Nothing in these units is powered: no batteries, no plugs, no controller. Every machine is pushed, pulled or turned by hand.
  • Maze: a clear floor with the tape edges pressed flat, walking pace, no blindfolds. The robot child can always say “Stop!” or hold up the stop card, and the game stops at once.
  • One robot on the grid at a time; everyone else sits outside its edge. Cards are laid beside the grid, never on the walking squares. Steps backwards are small, with the adult behind the robot.
  • Table-top grid (a planning choice): squares 10 cm wide on a large sheet taped flat, a low card wall along every edge. The operator lifts the box robot one square at a time; nothing is pushed off the table.
  • Small parts: nothing loose, or that could come off, that fits inside the small-parts cylinder (31.70 mm wide, 57.10 mm long). No beads, marbles, buttons, small magnets or coin cells. If in doubt, leave it out.
  • Scissors: only small scissors with rounded, blunt ends, used sitting down, with left-handed scissors for left-handed children. Children cut paper and thin card only.
  • No craft knives, box cutters or pointed scissors near the children: the adult cuts thick card before the session, away from them, and only the adult makes holes (see the hole rule).
  • Photos are of the build only, taken by the adult on the setting's device, following its photo policy: no child in the frame, no names visible, the build on the table or floor, not in a hand.
  • Nothing is uploaded to this studio and no name goes into it; the adult's notes follow the setting's records policy.
Safety for every band
  • Low voltage only: battery packs or USB. Never mains electricity.
  • Never connect a motor straight to a controller pin: use a driver and a separate supply.
  • Every moving robot has a power-off switch within reach that cuts the motor battery (or all power). A software stop button is extra, never a replacement.
  • No coin or button cells and no loose small magnets; battery compartments screwed shut.
  • Guard wheels and moving parts against pinched fingers; keep robots slow and indoors.
  • No exposed lithium cells, improvised chargers or lasers.
  • No Li-ion, LiPo or RC packs: AA alkaline or NiMH cells in a closed holder with a switch, or USB.
  • Check polarity and voltage before power-on; a 3.3 V board must not receive 5 V signals.

Notes for the adult

  • Say each step aloud: your words come first. The children read nothing. Each session's picture cards show symbols and drawings only; say the key word as you point to its card.
  • These plans assume one adult for up to six children. The adult leads every step, prepares every cut before the session, makes every hole (by the hole rule) and keeps the craft box and the split pins.
  • With a whole class, run a carousel: one station of up to six children run by the adult, and independent stations within the adult's sight where the others have a defined task with no scissors, split pins or ramps (each plan's “Whole class:” note names them). Groups swap until every child has been at the adult's station.
  • Whole class: the floor row, the table-top grid and the screen stay at the adult's station. The independent stations are drawing a card row with a count tile for a path on a paper grid with crayons, and laying cards with count tiles for a large soft toy robot on a second table-top grid.
  • Inclusion: every child takes part. Mobility: a child can show a movement their own way (hands, arms or a large soft toy), be the robot on big, clear squares in a wheelchair, lay the cards or give the instructions, or move a large soft toy across a table-top grid. Vision: large, high-contrast or tactile picture cards (raised outlines). Hearing: say each key word and point to its card at the same time, facing the child. Left-handed children get left-handed scissors with rounded ends.
  • In this unit, a child who uses a wheelchair can be the robot on the floor row if its squares are big and clear, or be the box robot's operator; a child who finds lifting the box robot hard points to each square while a partner moves it.
  • Evidence is showing and telling: a demonstration, a photo of the build (never of a child, no names visible) or a drawing that you keep, or your own short note. No names in the studio, no scores, no uploads.
  • The CPSC's small-parts rule is written for toys for children under 3, and it exempts paper and writing materials such as crayons (16 CFR 1501.3, quoted). These plans apply its cylinder check to the loose objects children handle, and to anything that could come off, a stricter planning choice: groups mix ages and younger visitors come in. Paper and crayons stay in use; the adult collects glue-stick caps and crayon stubs at the end of each session.
  • Screen time is minimal: only Robot Instructions uses a screen, for at most 10 minutes in a session, on one shared tablet or computer. Every other part of every session is away from the screen.
  • Picture cards are a program for a person, not code that runs: a child or you carry them out, card by card. Nothing in these units runs a program by itself, and nothing is uploaded.
  • The box robot has nothing inside: it moves only when the operator lifts it, one square per step, exactly as the cards say. That is the point: the cards are the program, and the operator carries it out.
  • Robot Instructions saves nothing and needs no reading. It never replaces the table-top robot: a pair's own run on the grid is the evidence.
  • Clear the floor before the floor row: bags, chairs and loose cards away. The HSE says most trips are caused by things left in walkways.
  • Simple conditions (if this, then that), which the unit outline lists, are only previewed here: at the star, the robot shows the light card (if it is on the star, then the light). R08-U3 teaches them; this unit keeps its rows to sequences and repeats, so that a wrong count is the only thing that can go wrong.
  • This unit relies on ordering steps (R06-U3) and outputs (R07-U3): the light card stands for an output. It does not teach them again.
  • Readiness decides, not age: a child who already uses a count instead of laying the same card again has what R08-U4 and R09-U1 need from this unit.

Planned studio features

Not built yet. The unit runs without them.

  • Printable picture cards: forward, the turns, the count tiles, the repeat band and the light card.
  • A printable table-top grid sheet the shape of Robot Instructions' board, with each session's start square and star marked.
  • A Robot Instructions level with a repeat band (a repeat that holds more than one card); today a count goes on one card only.

Sources

The facts this plan relies on, in each source's own words.

  • UK HSE: Slips and trips, causes and prevention: overview
    “The majority of trips are caused by obstructions in walkways. … It is not just good enough to have a walkway, it must be kept clear, no trailing wires, no obstructions.”
  • US CPSC: Child Safety: Summary Information for Small Parts, 16 C.F.R. Part 1501
    “A small part is any object that fits completely into a specially designed test cylinder 2.25 inches /57.10mm long by 1.25 inches /31.70 mm wide that approximates the size of the fully expanded throat of a child under three years old. … A piece of a toy or article that breaks off during testing that simulates use or abuse by children. … Toys and games that are or contain small parts as manufactured and that are intended for use by children from 3 to 6 years old must be labeled to warn purchasers not to buy them for children under 3 years old because those children could choke on the small parts. Marbles, small balls, and balloons require similar warnings.”
  • US eCFR, 16 CFR 1501 (a CPSC rule): Method for identifying toys and other articles intended for use by children under 3 years of age which present choking, aspiration, or ingestion hazards because of small parts
    “This regulation does not apply to toys or articles which are solely intended for use by children 3 years of age or older. … The following articles are exempt from this regulation … Books and other articles made of paper; … Writing materials such as crayons, chalk, pencils, and pens; … Any components or pieces (excluding paper, fabric, yarn, fuzz, elastic, and string) which have become detached from the article as a result of the use and abuse testing shall be placed into the cylinder, one at a time.”
  • NHS (Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust): Scissor Skills
    “Children may have the skills to use small scissors by three to four years of age, but scissor skills are not fully developed until 6 years of age. … Children will need supervision for sharp scissors. Make sure that scissors have rounded rather than pointy ends for safety. … Always provide left handed scissors for left handed children. … Start with thick solid lines to cut.”