Unit Overview

Students become computer scientists as they use a robot to clean up a park and keep trash out of the landfill. Pairs well with Here’s the Scoop: Designing Trash Collectors.

  • Kindergarten
  • Setting: In school
  • Science connection: Needs of living things
  • 9 lessons
  • Plugged (with robots) and Unplugged pathways
  • 25–45 minutes per lesson

Standards alignment

We’ve developed the EiE for Kindergarten units with careful attention to educational standards in science, computer science, and technology/engineering. View Standards Alignment for state and national standards, including CCSS ELA and Math.

Unit Map

Students create a shared definition of a computer and consider how people use computers. (30 min.)

Students learn that engineers are people who use tools such as computers to solve problems, and that engineers use an engineering design process. (25 min.)

Students meet Danny the duck in the storybook Programming a Cleanup. Students learn about where their trash goes after they throw it away. (35 min.)

Students practice math skills such as classifying, counting, and comparing in the context of solving Danny’s problem. (40 min.)

Students learn about how robots follow instructions, and they practice giving and following instructions. (40 min.)

Students learn how to use code symbols to give instructions to a robot or a “robot” classmate. (45 min.)

Students use what they’ve learned about trash, recycling, and how to create programs for robots to imagine some ideas and record a plan. (45 min.)

Students use their plans to create, test, and improve their programs. (45 min.)

Students apply their computer science knowledge to a larger context and consider ways to use a robot to help people do other repetitive tasks. (40 min.)

What's Included?

  • Teacher Guide (PDF)
  • Illustrated Story (PDF)
  • Print Materials (PDF)
  • Additional Resources