Robot Making a Soft Butter Sandwich (Grades K to 8)

[Richard Linville]

This is a fun and messy activity where students try to tell a robot (the Teacher) how to make a soft butter sandwich. Students will discover how difficult it is to actually program a robot because the Robot-Teacher will purposely make mistakes from inaccurate commands given by students. (I've changed from Peanut Butter to Soft Butter because of student allergies to peanut butter) MATERIALS: 1. Closed Loaf of Bread 2. Closed Tub of Soft Butter or Margarine 3. Butter Knife (plastic, metal, or wooden) 4. Table Cloth or Tray to contain the mess. 5. Towels for cleaning hands and area. SAMPLE LESSON (Teacher is encouraged to ad-lib and dramatically ham it up.) Try to have the materials hidden from the class in a large container. The teacher brings in the closed container of materials and announces, "Class, we have a special guest today. It is a robot. Let me go get it for you." The teacher walks away a short distance, stops and turns back. With stiff arms and legs, the teacher walks like a robot to the front of the class. Facing the class, the teacher makes robot sounds, bends at the waist and moves head, arms and body in a robotic fashion. The teacher talks like a robot and says, "My name is Roboto. I need you to program me to make a bread and butter sandwich. I will point to one of you who quietly raises her or his hand to give me one step in making this sandwich. I will follow your directions exactly. Please raise your hand and tell me one step that I need to perform. If no one raises a hand, I will point to one of you to tell me a step. The teacher makes whirring sounds and assorted robotic movements. Someone please tell me my first step. STUDENT: Throw the container across the room. ROBOT: I am a non-violent robot. I only need to be programmed to make a butter sandwich. What is my first step? STUDENT: Get some bread and butter. ROBOT takes out bread, butter and sets them on protective cloth or tray and says, "Now what is the next step?" STUDENT: Open the bread. ROBOT tries to unsuccessfully open the bread every way except for the correct way. STUDENT: No, no. Open it from the end! ROBOT tries to unsuccessfully open it from the wrong end. STUDENT: No, no. Open it from the other end. ROBOT says,"Now what is the next step?" STUDENT: Put the butter on the bread. ROBOT puts the whole tube of butter on top of the bread. STUDENT: No, no. Take the butter out of the tub. ROBOT tries to unsuccessfully pour the still lidded tub of butter on the bread. STUDENT: No, no. Remove the lid. ROBOT turns tub upside down and tries unsuccessfully to remove the bottom of the tub. STUDENT: No, no. Turn it over and remove the top. ROBOT correctly removes the lid and says, "Now what is the next step?" STUDENT: Scoop out the butter. ROBOT scoops out butter with finger. STUDENT: No, no. Use the knife. ROBOT uses the wrong end to scoop out the tiniest bit of butter. STUDENT: No, no. Use the flat part not the handle, scoop more butter and put it on the bread. ROBOT puts the butter incorrectly on the edge of the bread. STUDENT: No, no. Put the butter on the face of the bread not the edge. ROBOT says," Thank you for programming me to make a butter sandwich. Class, is it easy to program a ROBOT? CLASS: No. You have to be very exact to tell a robot how to do something. (If the teacher has time, have the students number and write the steps for programming a robot to make a butter sandwich.)

[Desiree York]

Love this idea! My fifth graders are really interested in learning about programming. I have a parent who is a programmer and wants to come in to teach the kids a little bit. I think this might make a great intro.

[Richard Linville]

My students and I have always had so much fun with this messy lesson that shows the difficulty of programming a robot. Let me know how it turns out for you.