L@RFING0BJEI\IIVES CSTASTAFDARBSABDREQED

After this lesson, students will be able to: • 2-DA-07: Represent data using multiple encod
• 2-IC-20: Compare tradeoffs associated with co
Define perception as it is used in artificial intelligence.
Build a Scratch program that uses Hand Sensing • AI blocks to manipulate sprites on the scre
•
-

In today’s lesson, students will get introduced to sensing and perception in Al by looking at
robotics examples from real life. Students will start the lesson by watching a video of Al-powered robots
performing parkour before participating in a quick discussion. Then, they will go through a series of
examples of robots that perform a variety of tasks, all while learning about sensory data and
perception. Students will then get to build an Al-powered program in Scratch to make a warehouse
robot pick up items for shipping. Finally, the lesson will end with a vocabulary review and discussion.

T0BAY’S#UESTI0NS
How do Al-powered robots How do AI systems make sense
collect data using of the data they collect?
sensors?

Robotics Sensing SensoryPerception

data Societal impact of AI

courtesy of

t£SSI¥i 1.3 — Real-World AI: Robotics

 Lesson Plan — 2

AGENDA TEACWERRESDURCES STUDENTRESOURCES

NARM-UP 5:00 Video Slides
GlJl8E8 LESSg§ 15:00 Video Slides
GIJI8E8ACTI#ITY 20:00 Video Slides Guide Solutions
CLOSE-OUT 5:00 Slides
{g {§§ {|§{§ 45tOO End-to-End Slides

- ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
e Exa e Pro ec • Scratch Wiki • Paper: "PoseBlocxs: A
e late • MIT AI Code Too ki or Crea in "
Cards
TSthaerter
e PS AI Scratch Guide

TEACEERPREPCEECKLIST
Before teaching this lesson, consider doing the following to prepare:
0 Review all of this lesson's resources (see "Resources™ on the first page of this lesson plan).
0 Prepare how you will share the activity witn me students (print or through LMS, etc.)
0 Complete the student activity using the same materials as students.

FOR T£AC£ERS
e A computer witn internet access • Unique class cooe from Teacher Dashboard
e A pair of headphones (optional) • Videos and/or slides
e Handouts: Artivitv GuicJe. I .*o Iut • Screen to project lesson contents
i onn e Project STEM (projectstem.org) • This lesson plan as your guide

V0CABU@RY
• robot (n): a machine designer to do specific tasks in physical space
• perception (n): me ability to interpret ana make sense of sensory data
• sensing (n): the process of collecting sensory data
• sensor (n): a device that allows a machine to collect sensory data from the
natural vvorlo
• sensory data (n): information that is collected witn senses or sensors

Students will check off each of tnese steps by the end of the activity:
0 My robot sprite moves around the Stage using AI via the Hand Sensing blocks.
0 I added at least 3 sprites for the robot to collect.
0 I initialized the program so that when me green flag is clicked, the robots ana
sprites go to their assignee coordinate locations and all hidden sprites are
- shown.
0 Tne collected sprites are hidden and me items collected number increases to
confirm when the robot has collectea them.

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

 Warm-uSlides End-to-End Slides (Slides 1—4)

Use the steps oelow alongsi”de the slides. Extra guidance ana teacher tips can D

WELCOME,L00KBACK,ANDLAUNCW
I. Have tne Lesson 1.3 Warm-up Slides or End-to-End Slides reaay to Droject for me start of
cl ass.
2. Review t ne Drevious day s worn ana learnings witn tne students.
3. Launcn me new lesson by going over wnat me lesson vviI I be about toaay.

Close me Lesson l.3 Warm-u p Sliaes and open the Lesson 1.3 Lesson Slides. If you’re using me
E nd-to- Ena version of me slid es, sim ply seep going from tne same set.

For teacners wno cnoose to use me provided

"Hi”, everyone, and welcome
viaeos insteaa of slides to facilitate all or part
6ocx to class! Today, we'll oe
of tnis lesson, start In is section by welcoming
ooinc/ Lesson I.3, l'eo/-Wor/c/
your students.
AI, /?ohotics. Let’s start Dy
Tnen, introauce the Warm- up Viaeo using wotchi”ng the Warm-up
the suggested script shown here before Video."
playing the video.
Once me video has finishes playing, ask
students if they have any questions before
moving on. Tnen, respona to any student there any questions oefore
comments and close the video to get ready we move to the next parti"
for the next section.
 Lesson Plan — 4

Lesson Slides End-to-End Slides (Slides 7)

Use the steps Delow alongside the slides. Extra guidance anO teacher tips can De

DO NON: REAL-RORLDCONNECTION
1. Mare sure me Lesson 1.3 Lesson Slides or End-to-End Slides are open ana ready to project.
2. Show students the examples of humans doing parkour and ask if they think robots can be
programmed in such a way tnat they can also do parkour.

When learning about now AI is able to make sense of its environment so it can make
autonomous decisions, parlour can be used as a fun, exciting example.
In case you or your students are not familiar with parkour, Wikipedia defines parlour as, "an
atnletic training discipline in whicn practitioners (called traceurs) attempt to get from point
A to point B in me most fluid way possible, without assisting equipment and in the fastest
and most efficient way possible....It involves seeing one's environment in a new way, and
envisioning the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and
under its features."

3. Tell stuaents that that they're now going to watch a viaeo to see if robots can do parkour.

Make sure to test the embedded video ahead of time to make sure it is not blocked by me
district and that your audio plays correctly for the class.

4. Propose the following questions to the class:

e How do you tnink tnese robots might collect information about their surroundings?
e How do you tnink tney know what to ao with the information tney collect?
e Can you think of some problems tnat coula be solvea with the help of robots tnat can
quickly maneuver around or over obstacles?

Examples of some potential answers are below. You can also refer to these answers as a
backup to help get me discussion rolling along in case students don't snow what to say.
e They might use sensors that do things like capture images with cameras and
measure surfaces.
o Note: Students mignt now know me names of tnese sensors yet so it is okay
for them to describe what tney think me sensors mignt do instead.
e The AI algorithm helps them perceive using the sensory data.
e Search and rescue, exploring places tnat are difficult or dangerous for humans to
explore (tnis can be to gather information or perform a task).

5. Empnasize mat AI lets robots do amazing things.

REAL-RORLDCONNECTION
1. Introduce me idea of sensing and how robots use AI witn mat data.
2. Introduce perception ana how it sets AI apart from other tecnnologies.

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

 Lesson Plan — 5

3. Go over how a numan mignt perceive tnings and get from point A to point B.
4. Tale about me difference between a human ana now a robot woula act differently using AI.
5. Tell stuaents that they'll now see some examples of Al-powerea robots being used in real life
starting with Amazon warehouse robots. Then, play the video.

This video contains a lot of information in a short time. It is recommended mat you play me
video twice for your students. For example, they can watch it me first time just to watch the
video and tnen an additional time to take notes and absorb what they saw.
As always, make sure to test the embedded video anead of time to mane sure it is not
blocked by me district and that your audio plays correctly for the class.

6. Leaa a snort discussion by going through the slides that follow me video. These are set up so
that you can display the discussion question alone on a slide while you ass the question ana
then reveal me answers the next sliae.
7. Introduce me next example as robot drones mat help with search ana rescue.

Note tnat the reading level on this video might be a bit high for middle schoolers. It is
recommended that you read the onscreen text aloud as me video plays, and you may need
to pause periodically to do so.
As always, make sure to test the embedded video anead of time to mane sure it is not
blocked by me district and that your audio plays correctly for the class.

8. Leaa a snort discussion by going through the slides that follow me video. These are set up so
that you can display the discussion question alone on a slide while you ass the question ana
then reveal me answers the next sliae.

PRE-ACTIVITYCONNECTION

PoseBlocks are a suite of Al-powered Scratch extensions, three of which are introduced in this unit —
Hand Sensing, Body Sensing, and Face Sensing. They were developed by MIT Media Lab and can
only be accessed in special forked versions of Scratch, such as the one used for this course.
PoseBlocks provides students with code blocks mat use pre-built machine learning models to
perceive parts of the hand, body, and face. Students can then build programs around what the AI
perceives. Below are answers to questions you may have about PoseBlocks.
Where can I read more about PoseBlocks? In tnis MIT pa per, which is me main source of
information a bout PoseBlocks.
Are there special technical requirements? Students need to have access to a webcam in order for
the AI to gather sensory data (in this case, camera images) that it will use to locate parts on the hand,
body, or face. Vou may want to check with your IT department in advance to make sure that students
will be able to give the Scratch site permission to use the webcam.
What happens to the images of my students? Are their likenesses saved anywhere? All of the
data collected from the webcams are private in order to seep your students' safe online. MIT Media
Lab states on page 2 of this paper: "We designed the PoseBlocxs Toolkit to seep all training and test
data, including camera images and audio clips, private. No audio or video data is ever sent from users
to the back-end."

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

 Lesson Plan — 6

l Tell stuaents that they'll be using an Al-powered Scratch ext:ension callea Hand Sensing.
2. Cont:inue by telling st:udents that: t:his extension collects live images from t:heir webcam and
uses them t:o recognize key points on their hand.
3. Direct student:s t:o go to bit.Iy/AI-Scrat:ch to follow along ana learn the basics.
Walk t:hem th rough adding t:he Hand Sensing ext:ension and then ma<e sure t:hey give
permission for t:he webcam t:o be used if t:hey are prompt:ed t:o do so.
5 St:art the aemo project by snowing st:udents the symbol that shows when:her t:heir webcam
can detect: a hand or not.
6. Then, have st:udents look at the Blocks Palet:t:e t:o cneck out the Hand Sensing blocks.
7. Using the instructions in the slides, walk st:udents throug n creating a script: that will help
t:hem unaerst:ana what: t:hey are to build in t:oday's activity.

For today's activity, students will need to make sure that tney build a script tnat
continuously goes to a key point on their hand. This requires a forever loop block to be used.
lstudents do not use a fozevez block,their spritevvill only go to the ey point on tne
hand once.
Out of the scripts below, the one on the left will only make the sprite go to the tip of the
user's thumb once and then stop. The one on the right„ however, will send me sprite to the
tip of me user's thumb continuously on a loop. Keep In is in mind when helping students
with their programs during me activity.

8. Ask stuaents to think about me following questions and tnen use the slides mat follow to
review the answers.
o Wnat is me AI using to sense?
o Wnat is me AI trained to perceive?
9. Tell them, "Now, it's time to use AI Scratch blocks to create our own virtual warenouse robot!"

Close the Lesson 1.3 Lesson Slides and open the Lesson IN Actf«tty Slides. If you're using the
End-to-End version of the slides, simply keep going from the same set.

For teachers who choose to use the videos instead

of the slides to facilitate their course, start this section “Now, let’s continue
introducing the . Dy watching the
Play the video and finish by asking students if they Lesson VicYeo.
have any questions before moving forward. Respond Then, we’ll get started
to any student comments and then close the video to on tooay‘s activity.“
get ready for the next one.

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

 Lesson Plan

ActivitSlides End-to-End Slides (Slides 4B-69)

Use the steps Delow alongside the slides. Extra guidance anO teacher tips can De

1. Mare sure me Lesson 1.3 Activity Slides or End-to-End Slides are open ana ready to project.
2. Review toaay's mission ana make sure stuaents have me appropriate Project STEM page
open.
3. Introduce me activity by walking students througn me finishes example project, making sure
to point out the key features.
4. Tell stuaents that they'll be using a starter template to buila this project and then review
wnat is incl uaed in this tern plate.
5. Finish the activity introduction by showing stuaents what they'll neea to add to the template
to complete tneir mission.
6. Have stuaents open their activity guide and start the activity using one of the activity
facilitation options.

ACTIVIN FACILITATION 0PTIDN3

For me coding activity portion of tnis lesson, you can choose to have students use the activity guide
and worn independently, or with a partner, to complete their Scratch projects. Instructions for this
model are outlined in Option A: Student-Driven Work below.
Alternatively, you can follow the code-along instructions in me End-to-End Slides with your class
and vval k In roug h the steps of the coding activity together as a class. Instructions for th is model are
outlined in Option B: Class Code-Along below.

OPTION A: STUDENT-BRIVEN RORK

I. Have stuaents complete me coding activity on their own, or with a partner using the pair
programming strategies covered in Unit 0.
2. Wnen done, move on to the "Activity Wrap-up" section after me aaditional facilitation option
below.
o For students working indepenaently or with a partner, the code-along portion of the
A t/v lv Video may also be used so they can cneck their worn and see how they did.

OPTION B: CLASSIIORK-ALONG
I. Have stuaents open the starter template by navigating to https://bit.ly/CSE2_1-3_Template.

If students have trou ble with the snortened URL, use the full URL below:
https://pIayground.raise.mit.edu/ProjectSTEM/?project=https://fiIes.projectstem.org/CS
E2/Scratch_FiIes/1-3_Starter_TempIate.sb3

2. Remind stuaents to name tneir project and save it to their computer or cloud drive as well as
to save frequently while they work.

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

 Lesson Plan — 8

3. Next, have them add me Hand Sensing extension.

4. Instruct stuaents to ada some basic initialization blocks to make it easier to test their worn as
they go along.
5. Then, have tnem create the script that will make their robot sprite move to a key point on
their hand continuously on a loop.
6. Once this script has been created, have students test it out before moving on.
7. Now, tell students that tney'II be adding sprites for the robot to collect.
8. Have them add at least 3 new sprites to tneir program and place them where they want the
sprites to live on me Stage.
9. Once they're in place, instruct students to click on the "Code Blocks™ sprite ana then
drag-and-arop this sprite's script into each of tneir chosen item sprites as shown in the slides.
10. Tell them to finish this part of me activity by updating the XV coordinates in the go to xy
block of the script in each of me item sprites.
1l. Have stuaents test out their finished program at least a few times to make sure that
everything works as intenaed.

ACTIVINNRAP-UP
I. Circulate the room to assist students as needed usinp the Mission Checklist as a puide.

As you circulate, make sure students are able to check off the following:
0 My robot sprite moves around the Stage using AI via me Hand Sensing blocks.
0 I added at least Z sprites for the robot to collect.
0 I initialized the program so that when the green flag is clicked, the robots and
sprites go to their assigned coordinate locations and all nidden sprites are snovvn.
0 The collected sprites are hidden and the items collected number increases to
confirm when me robot has collected them.

2. Have stuaents make sure they can cneck off the items in tneir Mission Checklist when done.
3. As time permits (or for early finishers and/or advanced students), go over the extra challenges
that tney can try out.

Close the Lesson 1.3 Activity Slides and open the Lesson 1.3 Cloce-out Sttde lfyou're using the
End-to-End version of the slides, simply keep going from the same set.

For teachers who choose to have students watch the

video for this section instead of using slides, have “Now, let’s get started
students start their activities by watching the on tooay‘s activity! If
provided . you haVe questions
Play the video and (depending on your chosen during roe vicYeo,
SAI facilitation) circulate the room to help students who raise your honcY ro let
might have questions. me know.“

Finish by asking students if they have any questions before moving forward. Respond to
any student comments and then close the video to get ready for the next, and last, part
of the lesson.

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

 Close-out Slides End-to-End Slides (Slides 7O—72)

Use the steps oelow alongsi”de the slides. Extra guidance ana teacher tips can D

REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

I. Ma <e sure me Lesson 1.3 Close-out Slides or End-to-End Slides are oDe n a no ready to
Droject.
a. So we stuaents m ay still be finisnin g up ana th at is okay. Tne activity does not need to
be com Dlete Iy finish ea — th e Drocess is more im Dormant ma n a Derfect or finish ea
D FOCI LV CI.
2. Review t ne voca bulary from t ne lesson
3. facilitate th e d iscussion on me day’s lea rnings.

Here are me discussion auestions along witn at least one possible answer. Note that most
auest ions will have rnuItiDIe answers an d t nat th is is just one of tnern. Vou can also refer to
tnese answers as a backup to neID get tne discussion rol ling along in case stuaents aon’t
snow what to say.
• Q: W nat Dart of your warehouse robot Drogram usea perceDt ion? How was it usea?
A: IThe AI extension used perception wnen it used tne data col lectea by me
webcam to figure out where part of our nana was.
• Q: How ao you t nink AI capabilities line sensing and perceiving rnig nt be aava ncing
t ne fiel d of robot ic s?
Note: Tnis is a n open-end ea auestion designed to get st udents tninking
about me possible applications of wnat they just saw.
 Lesson Plan — 10

Twice in each unit, you or your students shoula select an activity to evaluate. Typically, one activity shoula be selectea fr
by the teacher througn classroom observations, over-the-shoulder student conferences, class snares, or gallery walks. Le

MASTERINGCSSKILLS
e Does your program successfully perceive a key location on your hand?
e Does your sprite constantly move to that key location as you move your hand arouna?
e Do your item sprites get collected when me robot toucnes them?

MASTERINGCSCONCEPTS
e How is your program collecting sensory data?
e Wnat was one example of perception in the robots that you saw toaay?
e How can Al-powered robots be helpful or harmful to the world?

e How is tnis activity similar to or different from the owner activities we've done?
e Wnat tool or concept did we use that we dian't know how to use before?
e How do you tnink you'll use wnat you learned today in future activities?
e How coula you use what you learned today in a previous activity to improve it?

e Wnat is something you're proud of that you aid in this lesson?

e Wnat were some cnallenges you facea ana now dia you work through them?
e Wnat else could you make using what you learned today?
e Dia you learn anything from a classmate today? If so, what?
e Wnat would you want to learn more about tnat we covered in In is lesson?

LfiiiS08 1.3 — Real—World AI:

At tne ena of class (as time allows), stuaents shou la be encouraged to sna re tneir Drojects or activities By al lowing
CLASSSHARES
Allow students a chance to share
with the entire class
Screen capture (or record) their pFO’ect
and post it on the class LMS
Have students share and exchange
feedback with a partner or small group
Have students show their project
to someone at home
You may also opt to set uD an in-class
or virtual gal lery walk for students to
snare tneir worn. Have eacn student
aisplay their program or aaa tneir
project to a snarea classroom sDace.
Instruct stuaents to sDend 5—lO
minutes "vva Ining" througn me
projects line an art gallery, opening a
few of their Deers’ Drojects, running
me Drog ram, add tnen leaving
comments with sDecific Dositive
feea back on tneir classmates’ work.