Building a Robotic Gardener: Unit Outline and Essential Questions
The groups of questions listed below can be used as an outline to teach the robotic gardener unit. Depending on the content area focus (electricity, ecology, plant science, etc.) and the level of familiarity of the students, teachers will want to add questions and/or change the order of the questions. The list covers:
1) set-up and and project build 2) assemblage and testing of the technology 3) accessing and manipulating of computer programs
Many of these groups of questions can be taught in approximately 45 minutes. In that case students need about 8-10 lessons to build their robots. Over a four week unit (assuming 4 lessons per week) that leaves 4-6 additional lessons to cover a content area focus. Teachers could add these additional lessons where they make sense. For example, if employing a plant science focus a teacher may want to do a lesson on gas exchange in the stomata of leaves while learning about the fan and the temperature sensor. In an electricity focus a teacher may wish to teach about wires, solenoids, or the power equation at the time students need this knowledge to make their robots work.
Plant Science and Ecology Basics What are the variables of plant growth? Do all plants have the same needs? What is asexual reproduction in plants? How should specific species of plants be cared for?
Robotics Basics What is a robot? What is a microcontroller? What are sensors and actuators? How can use a computer program to make a robot do what we want it to?
Light/Light Sensor Set-Up What is an LED light? How can we hook up an LED light? How can we run and change a program to turn an LED light on and off? What is a light sensor? How can we hook up a light sensor? How can we run a program to see the reading on a light sensor? How can we run and change a program that uses a light sensor to control an LED light?
Fan/Temperature Sensor Set-Up What is a fan? How can we hook up a fan? How can we run and change a program to turn a fan on and off? What is a temperature sensor? How can we hook up a temperature sensor? How can we run a program to see the reading on a temperature sensor? How can we run and change a program that uses a temperature sensor to control a fan?
Pump/Soil Moisture Sensor Set-Up What is a pump? How can we hook up a pump? How can we run and change a program to turn a pump on and off? What is a soil moisture sensor? How can we hook up a soil moisture sensor? How can we run a program to see the reading on a soil moisture sensor? How can we run and change a program that uses a soil moisture sensor to control a pump?
Combining Programs How can we hook up two devices at once? How can we write a program that can control two devices at once? How can we hook up three devices at once? How can we write a program that can control three devices at once? Hardware Design and Installation How can we design and install a light/light sensor system? How can we design and install a fan/temperature sensor system? How can we design and install a pump/soil moisture sensor system? Testing How can we make sure our robotic gardener is functioning correctly? How can we find out if our robotic gardener functions correctly over the long term?