Vroom Vroom!

We had so much fun today. Our focus: rovers and nonverbal communication. Yesterday in Science we were introduced to SAM Lab kits that can be programmed using input and output components. Today colony teams used these kits to create mini rovers that needed to carry out 3 specific missions. The first mission "Get Here" was to get their rover from point A to point B. The catch? The pilot was not allowed to see the rover while it moved. Instead the pilot had to rely on his/her fellow colonists to relay information via nonverbal communication in order to reach the goal. A success is all our colonies completed this mission (One team is ALMOST there. They only got one wheel into the target area and will try again tomorrow.)

Mission two "Get Supplies" had the same communication limitation, but required the rover to go around a corner and get a "supply" that is necessary for mission 3. Colonists could position themselves along the route and only interact with the rover if it made it into the supply area. Then the rover had to return to the pilot. 5 colonies completed this mission with many others pretty close.

Mission three "Get Information" required the rover to go long distance without 6th graders...all the way into 7th grade! Again, no verbal communication and colonist team members had to relay nonverbal information to their "blind" pilot in order to get their rover into a marked square. At that point a 7th grader would put a note in the designated spot on the rover to then be piloted back "home". Only 3 colonies have attempted this one. We anticipate colonies will continue to work towards these mission during choice colony times.

We're pretty sure your students will be eager to share their learning today!