STEM

Activity Details

Time needed: 15 minutes

Materials needed:

• None

Setup:

A robot knows how to follow instructions automatically, without a person telling it what to do. Computer engineers are programmers who create special instructions for robots to follow. Robots follow sets of step-by-step instructions, called algorithms, that tell them what to do. When an algorithm is coded into something that can be run by a robot, it’s called a “program.”

Activity:

Imagine you just created a program that could tell a robot what to do. How would you tell it to go to the kitchen in your house? What steps would it need to take to move there? Do you think you can be a robot and follow instructions? Do you think you could be a programmer? Let’s play “Programmer Says” to find out! 

To get started, find a sibling, parent, or other family member to be your partner. First, you’ll pretend to be the robot and your partner will be the “programmer” who chooses a task for the robot to act out. If you can, do this activity outside in your yard or a park!  

The “programmer” can then give you, the “robot,” step-by-step instructions to program the robot’s movements. You, as the robot, will act out the instructions, one step at a time. 

For example, the programmer could tell the robot how to: 

• Go down a slide
• Make a snack
• Take a stuffed friend for a ride in a stroller

If there seems to be a step missing, point it out and find a way to fix the program. This is called “debugging”—when programmers fix problems in their code. 

Once the robot completes the task, switch roles and play again! Pretend to be the programmer and give instructions for your robot partner to follow. 

Did you like being a programmer? Did you like being a robot? What else could you program a robot to do? What outdoor activities would be more fun with a robot?

And that’s it! You completed a step of the Daisy How Robots Move badge! If you had fun doing this, you might want to learn more about robots and design your own with the rest of the Daisy Robotics badges.

Troop Leaders:  The instructions for all badge steps are available free of charge in your  Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit.

Girl Scouts at Home activities have been adapted from existing Girl Scout programming and optimized for use at home during a period of social distancing.

Adapted from step 2 of the Daisy How Robots Move Badge. Contact your troop leader or your local Girl Scout council to become a Girl Scout member and learn all the requirements needed to earn the badge .