Robots information – prices – typical day

Lego NXT information

Lego NXT is the amazing new robot creation from Lego. With NXT your students will be able to write increasingly advanced procedures on our laptops which the NXT robot will carry out. Then they can alter and refine the program and see how their changes affect what the robot does.

The NXT robot is truly incredible. It is programmed using a visual programming tool that will have your students writing programs within minutes but will provide them with an increasing challenge as they advance to writing complex problem solving routines through the day.

We will set up a mobile ICT suite in your school. We work with a three to one maximum student to computer ratio. We will bring our own data projector so that your students can see what they need to do, we can even use technology that will make it possible for your student’s work to be shared with others in the class. This is a truly hands-on dynamic learning experience that will extend your student’s ICT skills hugely during the day.

For Key Stage 1

We will take two classes through the day. Each group will get around two and half hours with NXT. During this time we will introduce the robots to your children and get them to name their own. We will then demonstrate the basic operations as your children work in small groups to program and then test their instructions. We often use drama with younger children to help them get the idea of programming. Once they have mastered the basics we will set them a range of challenges which they will work on as a group to solve. A typical challenge is to get their robot to park itself on our special driving mat. By the end of the session they will have had the opportunity to plan and give instructions to make things happen (National Curriculum Key Stage 1 2c) and try things out and explore what happens in real and imaginary situations (National Curriculum Key Stage 1 2d).

For Key Stage 2

We can take two classes in a day or to really stretch your students take a whole day with a class. We would recommend that the half days are most suitable to cover the basic requirements of the national curriculum and the full days will really extend their skills. We will then demonstrate the basic programming instructions and get your pupils to test out some basic ideas. By the end of the first sessions they will have learnt the basic commands and be able to run them and see the results. They will also have amended the instructions and seen what impact their changes have. We then apply their new found knowledge by getting their robot to complete a driving challenge. Next we move on to using the sensors on Lego NXT so that your pupils can experiment with having their robot interact with its environment by building an alarm system which will respond to both sound and proximity. In the full day a common challenge we set is to get the robot to select either a red ball or a blue ball and then strike it into a goal. It is great to see how different groups set about this challenge and then review their different approaches as a class. If there is time we will then move on to some more advanced challenges so that your pupils can apply their knowledge in problem solving.

These sessions not only fulfill large amounts of the ICT curriculum but also parts of the Design and Technology and PSHE curricula. Team work, problem solving and taking different roles are a crucial part of each day.

Book a Root Day of Wonder for your students and book a day that will live on in their memories and be a fun, stimulating learning experience.

Prices

A day’s Robot Experience is for one class, to enable them to make significant progress in programming NXT. This costs £250 – around £8 per head for a class of 30 for a full day's wonder.

Typical Day

8.00 – 9.00 – arrive at your school and set up laptops, robots, data projector. We provide all the equipment – a mobile ICT suite.

9.00 – 10.00 – first session – introducing the robot, writing and running first programs

10.00-11.00 – second session – learning the full capabilities of the robot, using the sensors, working on the first problem solving task

11.30 – 12.30 – third session - working as a team, refining and improving programs and working on the second problem solving task

1.30- 3.15 – fourth session – further refining and improving programs and working on the third problem solving task, and presenting their findings to the rest of the class

The timings can, of course, be adjusted to suit your school day.