Ozobot is an interactive robot designed to help students learn coding and computer science concepts. In this activity, students will create coding maps using markers, and will test their code using Ozobot robots. Students will experiment, test, and modify their code to achieve their desired goals, ultimately drawing connections to autonomous vehicles and other smart mobility technology.

The “Smart City Adventure” K-12 design challenge tasks students of all grade levels with reimagining their city to embrace new and futuristic mobility technology advancements to improve the movement of people and goods, on the ground and in the air. Improvements can be made in areas such as transportation, safety, accessibility, efficiency, sustainability and more.

Curriculum can be scaled to accommodate a variety of grade bands and learning objectives. For example, educators might choose a single topic area for K–2 or 3–5 students (such as Electric Vehicle Charging Stations), whereas a variety of topics with detailed features could be introduced for 6–8 or 9–12 students. Feel free to contact the DriveOhio workforce team for more ideas!

To support educators in offering immersive, K-12 “hands on” learning, DriveOhio has curated free curriculum organized by educational topic and grade bands. The curriculum activities are scalable, flexible, and modular. Each curriculum topic contains a list of necessary resources and a detailed lesson plan to walk educators through step-by-step. DriveOhio offers a variety of curriculum for topics including: Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations; Automated Vehicles and Delivery Robots; Drones, Advanced Air Mobility, and Vertiports; Connected Vehicles and Intersections; and Smart City Planning. DriveOhio has also compiled extra resources related to the curriculum for both teachers and students to learn more.

In this video from Science City, meet Eduardo Torres-Jara, a postdoctoral associate in electrical engineering and computer science at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. He describes his work on innovative robots that use tactile feedback to locate and grasp objects. [3:03]

In this video from Science City, meet Eduardo Torres-Jara, a postdoctoral associate in electrical engineering and computer science at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. He describes his work on innovative robots that use tactile feedback to locate and grasp objects.

Students are introduced to the concepts of digital organisms and digital evolution. They learn about the research that digital evolution software makes possible, and compare and contrast it with biological evolution.

A hypothetical scenario is introduced in which the class is asked to apply their understanding of the forces that drive natural selection to prepare a proposal along with an environmental consulting company to help clean up an area near their school that is contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE). Students use the Avida-ED software application to test hypotheses for evolving (engineering) a strain of bacteria that can biodegrade TCE, resulting in a non-hazardous clean-up solution. Conduct this design challenge activity after completion of the introduction to digital evolution activity, Studying Evolution with Digital Organisms.

Tips for avoiding the serious crime of identity theft. Learn how your identity can be stolen and how to protect yourself.

Identity theft is a serious crime and it's important to act fast if this happens to you. Learn how to tell if your identity is stolen and what to do about it.

Students design and create flow charts for the MIT App Inventor tutorials in this computer science activity about program analysis. In program analysis, which is based on determining the behavior of computer programs, flow charts are an important tool for tracing control flow. Control flow is a graphical representation of the logic present in a program and how the program works. Students work through tutorials, design and create flow charts about how the tutorials function, and present their findings to the class. In their final assessment, they create an additional flow chart for an advanced App Inventor tutorial. This activity prepares students with the knowledge and skills to use App Inventor in the future to design and create Android applications.

Kibera, a poor community, in Nairobi, was a blank spot on the map until recently. This video from Penn State Public Broadcasting’s Geospatial Revolution shows how geospatial technology enabled residents to map resources to help their community.

Use Google Sheets to create a budget for a celebration and perform calculations. Time to complete: 45-90 minutes

Where does computer science and innovation fit in the industry of agriculture? Nearly everywhere! These lessons help students investigate agriculture as a source of innovation and technology which may be unfamiliar but is critically important to food security and feeding the world. This unit features 2 lessons and 3 files. Lessons are aligned to NGSS.

You may have heard about Colony Collapse Disorder, a syndrome likely caused by multiple factors that results in the deaths of many honeybee colonies. Become a diagnostic researcher and use bioinformatic tools to discover some of the pathogens that may be responsible. This unit features 3 lessons and 7 files. Lessons are aligned to NGSS.

The technology innovations in use in the agriculture industry have been touted as second only to those of the US military. What are these innovations? GPS guided tractors, follow-along equipment, application of fertilizer or herbicide only where needed, variable rate planting, artificial intelligence that can identify weeds and spray them individually—these are just a few of these innovations. This unit illustrates how ozobots can be used to simulate one of these advances. This unit features 4 lessons and 7 files. Lessons are aligned to NGSS.

Engineering manager Erica Gomez, program manager Jerome Holman, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates explain how a computer's hardware and software work together. [5:22]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Students use a hurricane tracking map to measure the distance from a specific latitude and longitude location of the eye of a hurricane to a city. Then they use the map's scale factor to convert the distance to miles. They also apply the distance formula by creating an x-y coordinate plane on the map. Students are challenged to analyze what data might be used by computer science engineers to write code that generates hurricane tracking models. Then students analyze a MATLAB® computer code that uses the distance formula repetitively to generate a table of data that tracks a hurricane at specific time intervals. Students come to realize that using a computer program to generate the calculations (instead of by hand) is very advantageous for a dynamic situation like tracking storm movements. Their inspection of some MATLAB code helps them understand how it communicates what to do using mathematical formulas, logical instructions and repeated tasks. They also conclude that the example program is too simplistic to really be a useful tool; useful computer model tools must necessarily be much more complex.

The physics of smartphones is a complicated and amazing mixture of engineering, physics, electronics and computer science. Video (6:03)

This illustrated essay from A Science Odyssey Web site explains the science behind radio waves, including the role of electrons and electromagnetic fields.

Collaborate with classmates to create a plan to recognize and stop cyberbullying. Time to complete: 45-90 minutes