Introducing the Senses of Lego Robotics: ‘Animal Alarm’ Teaches Conditional Lego Coding

Ready to move your young learners beyond simple movement? The ‘Animal Alarm’ lesson, the fourth adventure in the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential ‘Great Adventures’ unit, is where students first dive into the fundamental programming concept of selection—the “if/then” logic that makes robots truly responsive.

Designed for Years 1-2 (Beginner, 30-45 minutes), this challenge asks students to help Leo the adventurer set up an alarm that wakes him up only when certain animals walk past his campsite.

This lesson is a fantastic integration of Lego Robotics and Lego Coding. Students construct a model incorporating the SPIKE Essential Colour Sensor, treating it as the robot’s “eyes.” The core challenge is twofold:

1. Initial Program: Students use the visual SPIKE App to write a program that causes the alarm to activate (the “effect”) when the sensor detects a specific input (a “cause,” like a blue creature).
2. Iteration and Selection: They must then modify their code to react only when a red creature walks past.

This exercise is vital for teaching young coders to use selection in programs and understand how physical inputs (the Colour Sensor) lead to programmed outputs (the alarm). It builds crucial computational thinking skills by reinforcing the concept of cause and effect, making it an essential lesson for anyone teaching foundational Lego Coding and sensor integration in Lego Robotics.

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