Ozobot Engineers
Protecting Michigan from Natural Disasters!
By:  Rachel Minier

Project at a Glance :

This project will address the target science standard, 4-ESS3-2 MI “Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on human”  and engineering standard, 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.  The time to complete this project will be 10 days, 50 minutes per day.
 

Driving Question:

How can we use Ozobots to prototype solutions that reduce the impact of natural disasters in Michigan?

Standards:

• 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• 4-ESS3-2 MI Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
  
  
  
  

Team / Culture Building:

• Students will individually take a test on Mycreativetype.com to identify their strengths. I will put them into groups of 4, mixing up the personality types. Students will be able to learn to collaborate with classmates of different personalities.  ​

Entry Event:

• Students will be learning how to use ozobots for the first time. Each team had to solve 4 puzzles that focused on creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. They will decide on a team name and create a poster that they can code their ozobot to follow. 
  Students will then be able to explore a few model natural disasters.
  
  
  
  
  

Using the Ozobot to create team name

Stakeholders:

• Students watched 4 news clips about recent natural disasters in Michigan and listened to interviews with people who were affected
• Students will identify various stakeholders they hear from on the videos 

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholders Map
• Empathy Map ​

• After watching the news highlights of, we empathized with someone who was experiencing the natural disaster. 

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Brainstormed all the questions we needed to know before we started the research and plan interview questions.
• Students jig-sawed the information that they researched about two questions they wanted to know more information about. 

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• Gaining Insights - Teams of 4 discussed how they wanted to approach the question. It could be interpreted in many different ways such as choosing a specific disaster, preventing, warning, or cleaning up. Then they drew the problem as they saw it.

Incubation:

• Idea Quota​​

• Crazy 8: Each student will generate 8 ideas in 8 minutes
• ChatGPT to help generate ideas
• Met with a local police officer to ask questions and interview​

 Checking in:

• Top 10 List
• Teacher circulates the room to ask deeper thinking questions during the sharing of Top 10

• ​Revisited empathy maps and driving question daily to check for understanding
• Made sure to design with a purpose

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Solution Building:

• Dot Voting
• Critical Friends
• I like, I wish, What if?
• NUF Test​​

Critique and Revision: 

• Storyboard: Used for final idea
• Gallery Walk will offer critique and revision opportunities 

Authentic Audience:

• Deputy Biros from the local sheriff's office
• Plan to use Zoom for presenting solutions to the authentic audience

Solution Examples:

• Several prototypes were created​

• Building a prototype

• Building a prototype​

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

• STEM fast rubric will be used
• Condensed Creative Sequence FAST Rubric
• Students will assess their group using the same STEM fast rubric.

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

​Rachel Minier is a Y5-4th grade STEM teacher at Robinson Elementary in Grand Haven, MI. She has been teaching STEM for five years, and this year marks her fourth year with futurePREP'd. 

          "This project integrated robotics with project‑based learning rooted in real‑world challenges, I guided students to see themselves not only as learners, but as innovators and         problem‑solvers.”