K-2 Computer Science - Orange - Unit 2 Bee-Bots

yellow bot

Bee-Bot is a robot designed for use by young children. The colorful, easy-to-operate, and friendly little robot is a perfect tool for teaching sequencing, estimation, problem-solving, and just having fun! It was inspired by Seymour Papert’s robot turtles and LOGO programming language.
In this unit, students will learn to program Bee-Bots using sequences of simple commands. By doing so, they will gain fluency with planning, testing, and debugging programs of increasing complexity.
The lessons were designed to support groups of about 4 students per Bee-Bot.

Sequence of Lessons

Parts of the Computer Yellow Level: Unit 2, Lesson 7

View the Lesson Plan - Y2-7: Parts of the Computer

Lesson Overview

Students will review the Bee-Bot team roles and the use of the command cards as they navigate their Bee-Bot through a series of challenges that explore the parts of the computer they learned about after reading Hello Ruby Journey Inside the Computer.

Agenda

  1. Ask: What do you remember about using the Bee-Bot robots?
  2. Review: Bee-Bot Team Roles
  3. Activity: Parts of the Computer sequence challenges
  4. Reflection & Close-Out:
    • What is your favorite job to perform (driver, navigator, designer, debugger)? Why?
    • What is one success you had while working on the Bee-Bot challenges today?
    • What is something or someone you would like to celebrate today?

Materials

Vocabulary

  • debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
  • decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
  • program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
  • sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order

Additional Resources

Standards

  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
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Spelling Words Yellow Level: Unit 2, Lesson 8

View the Lesson Plan - Y2-8: Spelling Words

Lesson Overview

Students will use the Bee-Bot to practice spelling key vocabulary words from their classroom. They will need to decompose the word into all of the steps it will take to navigate the Bee-Bot from one letter until the next. Students will utilize a planning worksheet instead of command cards as they plan for these challenges.

Agenda

  1. Ask: What was helpful about using the command cards when programming your Bee-Bot.
  2. Review: Bee-Bot Team Roles
  3. Activity: Spelling Words
  4. Reflection & Close-Out:
    • How did your team use the planning worksheet today?
    • Did you create any new symbols to help write down the Bee-Bot's program?

Materials

Vocabulary

  • debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
  • decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
  • program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
  • sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order

Additional Resources

Standards

  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
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Coin Counting Algorithms Yellow Level: Unit 2, Lesson 9

View the Lesson Plan - Y2-9: Coin Counting Algorithms

Lesson Overview

Students will use the Bee-Bot to create multiple programs that each result in the same sum of money. They will need to decompose the amount into different coin groupings, then navigate the Bee-Bot from one coin to the next. Students will utilize a planning worksheet instead of command cards to plan for these challenges.

Agenda

  1. Ask: How did your team decompose a problem last class?
  2. Review: Bee-Bot Team Roles (optional)
  3. Activity: Coin Counting Algorithms
  4. Reflection & Close-Out:
    • When you wrote 2 programs for the same amount of money, did one program work better? Why?
    • What is important to do to write a good program for your Bee-Bot? What makes it a good program?

Materials

Vocabulary

  • debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
  • decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
  • program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
  • sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order

Additional Resources

Standards

  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
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Debugging Challenge Yellow Level: Unit 2, Lesson 10

View the Lesson Plan - Y2-10: Debugging Challenges

Lesson Overview

Students will create "buggy" challenges for their classmates to solve in this Bee-Bot activity. This lesson works with any set of Bee-Bot mat cards, and is easily customizable to allow students to revisit a favorite Bee-Bot mat activity, or to create their own!

Agenda

  1. Ask: Describe a bug that you found in a program. How did you find and fix the bug?
  2. Activity: Debugging Challenge
  3. Reflection & Close-Out:
    • What bugs did you find today? How did you fix them?
    • How did you work together as a team to find the bugs?

Materials

Vocabulary

  • debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
  • decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
  • program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
  • sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order

Additional Resources

Standards

  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
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Maze Decomposition Yellow Level: Unit 2, Lesson 11

View the Lesson Plan - Y2-11: Maze Decomposition

Lesson Overview

Students will create "buggy" challenges for their classmates to solve in this Bee-Bot activity. This lesson works with any set of Bee-Bot mat cards, and is easily customizable to allow students to revisit a favorite Bee-Bot mat activity, or to create their own!

Agenda

  1. Ask: What is a difficult Bee-Bot challenge you (and your team) had to work through? How did you persevere?
  2. Activity: Maze Creation / Maze Decomposition
  3. Reflection & Close-Out:
    • How did you work collaboratively with your team to solve another team's maze?
    • What was a challenge your team worked to overcome?

Materials

Vocabulary

  • debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
  • decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
  • program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
  • sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order

Additional Resources

Standards

  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
Link to this item

Programming with the Blue-Bot App Yellow Level: Unit 2, Lesson 12

View the Lesson Plan - Y2-12: Programming with the Blue-Bot App

Lesson Overview

Students will use the Blue-Bot app to engage in a variety of programming challenges, including navigating around obstacles on a Bee-Bot mat, programming with a limited number of Blue-Bot commands, or reverse engineering a pre-written Blue-Bot program. Students can connect the app to a Blue-Bot to program the actual Blue-Bot using the app, too!

Agenda

  1. Ask: What strategies did you use to create a program that navigated the Bee-Bot through a complex maze?
  2. Activity: Programming Challenges with the Blue-Bot app
  3. Reflection & Close-Out:
    • What was a challenge that required you to use perseverance today?
    • What bugs did you find and fix in a program today?

Materials

  • Blue-Bots
  • devices with the Blue-Bot app installed (see Resources for download links)
  • Mats and mat cards (optional)

Vocabulary

  • debug: find and fix errors (bugs) in programs
  • decomposition: breaking down a problem into smaller pieces
  • program: a set of instructions written in a language that a computer understands
  • sequence: a set of instructions that follow one another in order

Additional Resources

Standards

  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.12 Create programs with sequences of commands and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.13 Decompose the steps needed to solve a problem into a sequence of instructions.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.14 Develop plans that describe a program's sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
  • CA CSS: K-2.AP.16 Debug errors in an algorithm or program that includes sequences and simple loops.
Link to this item

This page was last updated on September 26, 2023