Crazy Clown: Year 2 Lego WeDo project

[Link to video.]

Resources: Lego WeDo and Software; instructions for building 'Goal Kicker' robot; Scratch (for more able computer scientists); kitchen roll tube (not toilet roll for health reasons); paint and craft materials; Sharp pencils to bodge holes; paper to plan out programs; challenge sheets; Ensure that you have the Lego WeDo extensions installed; teacher sheet for solutions; this sheet of all Scratch blocks to aid with planning.

Differentiation: By challenge sheet. More able Computer Scientists use Scratch and incorporate input variables such as, “Ask [What is your clown’s name?]”

Considerations: Perhaps limit the number of pieces (if you’re lucky enough to have Digital Leaders, get them to separate out just the pieces the children need. It takes 45 mins to limit 15 boxes to 42 pieces but I really recommend this.

If the clown goes particularly crazy, sometimes the cable gets trapped and needs unfurling to unblock the motor.

Edit > Show motor blocks in Scratch 1.4 Download Lego WeDo extension for Scratch 2.0. See http://wiki.scratch.mit.edu/wiki/Scratch_Extension

Further challenge: Can the children work out how to build and program a stilt walker?

Cross-curricular links: Art and Design, Design Technology, Maths, Computing (Programming, Safe researching, Multimedia)