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Search-and-Rescue Robot Course

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Grades 6-875-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Teams program a simple rolling robot to navigate a mock disaster course, then adapt its code on the fly when obstacles shift mid-mission.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • Trial log sheetPrintinguse what you have
  • stopwatchBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 45 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 15 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Search-and-Rescue Robot Course, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Define the central success test in Search-and-Rescue Robot Course and make a paper planning sheet for the inputs, actions, and expected result.
  2. Represent the system without electronics by using labeled cards, paper controls, tokens, a ruler, or a student acting as the device; follow the same cause-and-effect rules described in the project.
  3. Run at least three cases, including one difficult or unexpected case, and record input examples, operating rules, predicted outputs, and actual outputs.
  4. Revise one rule, layout, mechanism, or decision after the failed case, repeat it, and explain with the recorded evidence whether the change worked.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Search-and-Rescue Robot Course when it can run the final rescue mission for an audience and report how many survivors the robot found and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

programmable robot kit, cardboard for obstacles, tape for course lines, small figures as survivors; Trial log sheet; stopwatch

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Study the course layout and record criteria (find all 4 survivor tokens, under 2 minutes, no more than 1 collision) and the robot's limits (sensor range, motor speed, battery).
  2. Treat the robot and mock course as your model. Program version 1 of the route and run 3 trials, logging time, collisions, and survivors found for each.
  3. Shift an obstacle to simulate moving rubble and run 3 more trials, logging the same data.
  4. Use the log to find the biggest problem, modify the code (add sensing and rerouting, change speed or turn angles), and record what changed.
  5. Retest the new version 3 times on the shifted course and compare averages for each version in a table.
  6. Share data tables across teams. Identify which team's design features gave the best time, fewest collisions, or most survivors, and combine at least two of those features into a final version.
  7. Run the final rescue mission for an audience and report the data that shows it is the best version.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-3

    Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-4

    Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.