An action-packed book for middle schoolers that explores the roles
robots play in our world, including the history, engineering, and key
players in this STEAM field--plus loads of hands-on robotics activities
so kids can learn design, engineering, and coding, and develop their own
innovative ideas for future robots!
Robots are everywhere! They vacuum our houses, work in our factories,
help us learn at school, and play with us at home. They sample rocks
from other planets, survey disaster zones from the air, and bring back
images from the bottom of the ocean. In Bots! Robotics Engineering
with Hands-On Makerspace Activities, kids 9 to 12 learn the how, why,
and who behind the robots we have today.
- Explore the history of robots and artificial intelligence and read
short biographies of important innovators such as Ada Lovelace, Charles
Babbage, Alan Turing, Leonardo da Vinci, Dean Kamen, and Nikola Tesla,
and Cynthia Breazeal.
- Engage in science-minded learning by constructing a hydraulic arm,
formulating an edible inflatable soft robot, designing a motorized
ArtBot, and testing your own gravity-powered mini-walker. Learn coding
basics by writing pen-and-paper programs in Logo and creating virtual
robots in the free online language Scratch. Discover how to build
low-cost programmable cardboard robots using microcontrollers such as
Micro: bit or Circuit Playground Express and Microsoft MakeCode. And
find out how to train an "AI computer" to think by playing an unplugged
Machine Learning version of the math game Nim.
- Essential questions, links to online primary resources, fascinating
facts and brief sidebars help readers learn the basics of robotics while
exploring their creativity as they design and build their own robots and
robotic components.
About the Build It Engineering set and Nomad Press
Bots! is part of a set of two Build It Engineering books that
explore the engineering technology behind our daily lives. The other
title in this series is Crazy Contraptions: Build Rube Goldberg
Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel with Hands-On Engineering
Activities.
Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate content with
participation. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates
learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's unique approach
simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the
space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with
Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. All
titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.
