Year 1 – Moving a robot Lesson plan

Lesson 1 – Buttons

Lesson 1: Buttons
Introduction
Learners will be introduced to floor robots. They will talk about what the buttons on a floor robot
might do and then try the buttons out. They will spend time linking an outcome to a button press.
Learners will consider the direction command buttons, as well as the ‘clear memory’ and ‘run
program’ buttons.

Learning objectives
To explain what a given command will do
● I can predict the outcome of a command on a device
● I can match a command to an outcome
● I can run a command on a device

Key vocabulary
Forwards, backwards, turn, clear, go, commands

Preparation
Subject knowledge:
This unit includes references relating to Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot floor robots, however, other
educational floor robots are available. Learners should be given access to a device with a limited
range of functions that is designed for young learners. Before starting this unit, ensure you are
familiar with your school’s floor robots, including charging or battery requirements. You should also
know how to switch the devices on and off, as well as key functions such as clearing the memory. It is
advisable to use the robots on the floor if possible, as this can reduce damage caused by dropping.

On Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot, the Go button starts a program running, but it will also stop a program
while it’s running. This can be helpful for teachers and learners if the robots are running away!

You will need:

● L1 Slides
● Floor robot such as Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot, ideally one between two learners
● Activity 2 Match commands - one set per learner

Note: For the activities in this lesson, the learners should ideally work in pairs or, if necessary, threes.

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Year 1 – Moving a robot Lesson plan
Lesson 1 – Buttons

Assessment opportunities
● Activity 1: Learners should be able to use the visual clues that buttons provide to help them
make predictions about the robot’s direction of travel.
● Activity 2: Learners should be able to relate the movement of the robot to the command
button that was used to cause that movement.
● Activities 1–2: Learners should have used the buttons as guided during the lesson and be able
to relate the buttons to different outcomes.

Outline plan
Please note that the slide deck labels the activities in the top right-hand corner to help you navigate
the lesson.

*Timings are rough guides

Intro These are all robots
(Slides 1–3)
Introduce the lesson objectives (slide 2) and then show the robot images on slide 3.
5 mins Ask the learners to look at the images, then pose these two questions:

● What do we use robots for?

● Why do robots do what they do?

Ask the learners to talk to a partner about the kinds of jobs or tasks robots can do and
focus on why robots do those tasks. Ask the learners to feed back to the class.

Lead learners to the idea that robots are machines that can do tasks (robots can be
specialised or multipurpose). Robots complete their tasks because they have been
programmed to do so by humans: that is, we tell robots what to do.

Activity 1 Buttons and trying them

(Slides 4–7)
Note: The slides are here to support the introduction of the floor robot. It is strongly
20 mins recommended that you also show the learners the real robots as you’re explaining.

Introduce the floor robots to the class; show the learners the school robots if they are
different to the one shown in the slides. Tell the learners that the robots have buttons
on top (slide 4) and they will be talking to a partner about them. Hand out the class
robots and, if necessary, ask the learners not to switch the robots on yet.

Display slide 5. Ask the learners to talk with their partner about what they think the
different buttons on top of the robot do. (Note: The learners may be familiar with the
robots if they have used them before.) Ask some learners to share their predictions,
and encourage them to be specific in their descriptions. At this point, acknowledge the
learners’ responses, but don’t correct or confirm them.

After a few minutes, stop the discussion and show the learners how to switch the robot
on (slide 6). Ask the learners to identify what lights up when the robot is switched on
(the robot’s eyes). This will help learners to check independently that they have turned
it on correctly.

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Year 1 – Moving a robot Lesson plan
Lesson 1 – Buttons

Show the learners the Clear (X) button, as this is hard to see working and is really
important. Explain that each time they try a new button, they will need to press the
Clear (X) button first. You may also need to remind the learners of this while they are
working.

Show slide 7. Using the button highlighted on the slide, demonstrate how to test a
button, by pressing the Clear (X) button, followed by the Forwards button, then the Go
button, stopping briefly before you press Go to ask learners to predict what the
highlighted button will do. After you have pressed Go and the robot has moved
forwards, click through the animations on the slide and explain that you have given the
robot a command to move forwards.

Tell the learners that they can now try out the buttons one at a time and see if the
buttons did what they expected them to (slide 8).

Activity 2 Matching movement to buttons

(Slide 9)
Gather the robots back in. Ask the learners to sit so they can all see you and your
15 mins robot, for example in a circle. Provide each learner with a sheet showing the seven
buttons and tell them that you are going to secretly press one button on the robot,
without them seeing it.

You will then place the robot on the floor and press Go. After the robot has moved,
ask the learners to place a finger on their sheet indicating which (arrow) button they
think you pressed. Repeat this several times until the learners are confident. Remember
to use the Clear button (X) to clear the memory each time, and highlight to learners
that you are doing that.

Note: Learners not behind the robot might find the specific direction button harder to
identify. If necessary, move around the circle so that all the learners have been behind
the robot at some point during the activity.

Plenary Important buttons

(Slide 10)
Show the slide to the learners and ask why they think the Go and Clear (X) buttons are
5 mins particularly important. Highlight that the Go button makes the robot start its program.
The Clear (X) button clears the robot’s memory so that it forgets any
instructions/buttons that were pressed before.

Note: Turning the robot off and on again also clears the memory.

Summary Assessment of confidence

(Slides 11–
12) Ask the learners to reflect on the lesson and indicate how they feel about the lesson
(slide 11). Talk through the next lesson slide (slide 12).
5 mins

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Year 1 – Moving a robot Lesson plan
Lesson 1 – Buttons

Resources are updated regularly — the latest version is available at: ncce.io/tcc.

This resource is licensed under the Open Government Licence, version 3. For more information on this licence, see
ncce.io/ogl.

Page 4 Last updated: 29-10-21