Homeschool Week(s) in Review--Weeks 4-5 (Robots Unit Study)

When we were out of town visiting my mom unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago, I decided to shelve our regular curriculum for the week and take something with us that was relatively simple and didn't require a ton of extra books. I turned to Unit Studies by Amanda Bennett Download N Go series.  If you haven't heard of her go check her out right now!  She has a TON of unit studies on a large variety of subjects that are, as described, completely "download and go."  I had many of them on hand already from purchasing during great sales or catching them free on the USAB Facebook page every "Terrific Tuesday," so I showed Gabby and Aron the ones I had available and they mutually agreed that learning about Rocking Robots would be "super cool!"

I gathered a few books from the library (list of resources will be found at the end of the post) and packed up our stuff to hit the road to Virginia.  Turns out, we didn't get very much schooling done while we were there(which had nothing to do with the curriculum and everything to do with shuffling back and forth between the hospital and my mother's home), so we had to take another week after our return to finish the unit, but we still had a ton of fun!

I have blogged about using Amanda Bennett's unit studies in the past.  We kicked off our first week of school last year by doing the Download N Go title "Autumn Treasures" and this past spring we used one of her four week studies to go along with all of our garden work.  I am always amazed at the content within these studies.  Who knew we'd study Monet when learning about gardening or learn about the Titanic in this robot unit?  It's truly fantastic!

Well, enough blabbering already!  Let's get down to the good stuff!

During our two week venture into the world of robotics, we got to watch a ton of videos about real robots around the world.  The children particularly enjoyed one that had two teams of robots playing a soccer match.

They enjoyed this one as well.

We learned about early forms of automaton including water clocks.  We even made one of our very own!

Several times throughout the unit, the children were asked to design and draw their own robots.

A robot to do the laundry!  I need one of THOSE!

There was one interactive robot book that we got from the library that was a big hit with Aron.  He enjoyed turning the dials, pulling things from the pockets, and lifting flaps to examine all the different facts about robots, both real and from entertainment sources.

Laws of Robotics

Connect the Dot Robot

The Mars Rover is a robot, so we got to spend some time learning about the solar system and the "red planet."

Gabby especially enjoyed a game online that allowed you to create a travel path for a rover, avoiding danger zones.

Robot patterns

We learned a little geography by mapping a few of the countries that were discussed in the origins of robots.

Measuring came into play when we learned about of the world's smallest robots.

Underwater robots were of big interest as well.  We learned about the robots that were used to explore the depths of the sea in search of the Titanic. 

Making a robot timeline

Aron is still working on writing and so during some of the activities that require more than he was able to do, I gave him some of the pages from Homeschool Creation's Robot Preschool Pack.

Robot Do-a-dot

Robot puzzles

We got to compare the parts and functions of the parts of robots to human parts.

Fun robot math puzzle

Robot graphing

At the end of the two weeks, we had completed lapbooks with all sorts of fun info in them.

Gabby made this robot with our Kid K'nex

It was a fun experience that had been added to the banks of our school memories!  I highly recommend you check out all of Amanda's unit studies.  There are plenty available that you could use to study the upcoming election, Thanksgiving, football and MANY more!

Resources for a Robots Unit Study:

Download N Go Rocking Robots Unit Study

Robot themed preschool pack

Scroll down on this page for a lapbook template for a robotics timeline

Check out my Pinterest board for this unit for crafts and other fun robot themed activities

Robots coloring pages

Robot Zot by Jon Scieszka

Do-4U the Robot Experiences Forces and Motions by Mark Weakland

Robots!  Draw Your Own Androids, Cyborgs, and Fighting Bots by Jay Stephens

Mission to Mars by Franklin M. Branley

Cars on Mars: Roving the Red Planet by Alexandra Siy

Robots by Clive Gifford

Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman

Clink by Kelly DiPucchio

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