Middle School Incursions

YEARS 7 & 8

Students in a Middle School context need more than just ‘plug and play’; they need increasingly complex and educationally rich challenges that draw together their previous robotic experience and their ability to contribute as a member of a team. Solving tailored problems and being given the opportunity to innovate is at the heart of each of the following workshops and incursions.

How we work

We are a mobile service, which means in short, we come to you. The World of Robotics is a one-stop solution to immersing your students in robotics. Supplying tailored programs and providing all equipment needed, the workshops go beyond Robotics and Digital Technologies – making solid connections with numeracy, literacy and thinking curricula.

Program Sessions

Each session consists of 20 to 30 students ie class size. The minimum session time is 60 minutes and possible options are 90 minutes, half day, full day, once a week, term or year. Our flexibility enables us to fit in with the requirements of individual schools.

The choices of resources used are:

Vex IQ – technology / engineering / coding
Robotix – Engineering / inventions
Cublets moss – Technology/sensors
Logi Blocks – Electronics
ProBots – Programing
Movit – Construction / interpretation of Instructions
Owi – Construction / interpretation of Instructions

Curriculum Descriptors

Our immersive workshops meet the following ACARA and Victorian Curriculum Digital Technologies content descriptors:

Middle School

Define and decompose real-world problems precisely, taking into account functional and non-functional requirements (ACTDIP038) (VCDTCD050).

Program Overview

‘Robots Come To You’ Incursion

This most popular World of Robotics incursion is a captivating and hands-on workshop tailored to your students, Foundation to Year 10. Inquiry-based and utilising your choice of robotic platform (from Cubelets to complex VEX and Robotix), students are set exciting real-world challenges to explore, explain, evaluate and innovate – presenting their finished robot to their peers.

Enviro-Driver – Creating an Environmental Vehicle

Taking the popular robotics model Jet Racer to new ends, students work in pairs to design, build and operate an environmentally-friendly vehicle that combines wind, solar and direct drive control. Along the way they confront challenges of electrical generation, flow and series versus parallel circuitry.

Program A Robot (VEX IQ)

Starting with a partially built VEX IQ, students become Robotic Engineers transforming their basic robot into a specifically tailored robot – designed to meet a challenge. Will they design a Recycling Robot? An Olympian Robot? Or even a Mathematical Marvel?

VEX IQ Challenge

For advanced Robotics students, the Vex IQ Challenge takes them beyond simple construct and create, into analysis and evaluation. Students interpret complex diagrams to build a robot using the Vex IQ platform. Students then analyse the robotic performance, modifying and eliminating deficiencies in the program to refine the robotic function.

I’m a Robotix Engineer

Engineering the mechanical aspect of robotics – is a vital skill for tomorrow’s innovators. This workshop presents the students with one of the over thirty challenges that have to be overcome primarily through the way they design and engineer their Robotix robot. Only once they have created a design that meets the physical requirements can they move on to animate their robot with motors and gears… awesome ‘hands on’ STEM learning!

Physical Coding with Cubelets

Coding changes the function of what a robot does. What if you could physically change the function of a robot by changing the way you put it together? Cubelets are small robotic cubes that change their function depending upon how you connect them. Breaking robotics down to the basic input-processing-output model, student creations can be as simple or as complex as you like… and the sky is the limit.

ProBot Rally Racers

More than ever, understanding how we program robots to achieve their function is becoming a part of the ‘everyday’. Driverless cars, autopilots, even robotic vacuum cleaners are all removing the human element from manual tasks. Students will learn how to program their Probot around a rally course, using mathematical and critical thinking skills, angles, measurement, object avoidance, directionality and adaptive thinking.

To discuss how to have a workshop in your school, contact Kevin and Pauline or book online.

BOOK ONLINE

Middle School Incursion Gallery

World of Robotics offered our students thinking well beyond standard project learning… energy and enthusiasm – so much more than just a robot.

Marg Scott Network Improvement Officer Grampians Region
The children wore the hats of scientists and inventors when they investigated forces and energy through the mechanics of robots… true light bulb learning moments.

Joanne Kretsis Year 3 Team Leader Auburn South PS
All of our children were challenged and supported to succeed, and had a thoroughly enjoyable learning experience.

Meg Collyer Seabrook Primary School
Creating generations of creative and curious minds.

Lisa Van Noordennen Principal Barnawartha Primary School
Problem-solving, persistence, scaffolded learning, high expectations, collaborative learning, risk-taking, test-evaluate-modify… Robotic Education met our aims and more!

Rob Nelson Principal Bannockburn Primary School
We have worked with World of Robotics for 15 years… the whole school, every year.”

Ian Sloane Principal Mitcham Primary School
The Robotics incursion complemented our inquiry learning philosophies of hands on constructive learning. The children wore the hats of scientists and inventors when they investigated forces and energy through the mechanics of robots. They were problem solvers throughout the whole time when they constructed their robot spaceships along with all the add on features. They problem solved and had many light bulb learning moments when it came to attaching the robotic appendages like the arms and lunar rovers.

Joanne Kretsis Year 3 Team Leader - Auburn South Primary School