C D I N G&

O
R B O T I C S

Full lesson plans on

learning.strawbees.com

LEARNING FOR THE FUTURE

MAKING PROGRAMMING EASY
Challenges suitable from age 5 to university
TEACHING FOR THE FUTURE
EDUCATION TEAM
We are committed to empowering teachers to help students believe in their own
ideas and DREAM BIG in order to create our future.

COMMUNITY, CONTENT, COURSE & EDUCATIONAL SALES & EVENTS

LESSON PLANS

Lindsay Balfour Angelica Rådman

Content and Community Manager Sales Manager

Carl Bärstad Joakim Larsson

Community Outreach Sales Support

INVENTORS & TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT ARTWORK, DESIGN AND CONCEPTUAL

IDEAS

Erik Thorstensson Qianxin Zhang

Research & Development Designer

Dan Henriksson
Art Director
Kristofer Hagbard
Chief Product Officer
LEARNING FOR THE FUTURE

Paulo Barcelos Nina Lindström

Chief Technical Officer Vice President Education

CONTACT [email protected]
ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM AVAILABLE AT learning.strawbees.com
DEAR TEACHER

Education is changing
Groundbreaking technology creates new opportunities for and expectations
on us humans. When today’s children grow up they will live in a world we
know little about, many will work in professions that no one has yet heard or
thought of. In order to make a living in the future, humans will need to be
more creative than robots. Everyone will need to understand more about
technology. This has a big impact on teaching.

We grasp a lot at great speed when learning is fun

Effective learning also requires us to create safe spaces where questions and
experiments are encouraged and all students feel supported. When students
are encouraged to dream and set their own goals their potential for learning
is virtually unlimited.

Explore together with your students

Your students will likely come up with ideas for projects that we could have
never imagined. Different age groups are intrigued by different features and
opportunities. In addition to programming, there are ample opportunities to
learn more about mechanisms, construction, design and interaction. Enjoy
your students becoming construction and programming experts - teaching
you. You will not need to know all of our materials before you start exploring.

Teachers are invaluable in supporting students

You help students set up their hypothesis and designs, find the tools to put
them to the test, and reflect upon the result. With our open ended learning
system you can also encourage learning through play – by testing and
making, observing what became and modify the result in an iterative process.

Full lesson plans & inspirational activities for students ages 5-17+ online
You can introduce basic tricks to your students, or you can simply ask them
to investigate the different ways to use Strawbees are before starting your
first challenge. Should you want more inspiration we provide full course and
lesson plans categorized by age ranges 5-7, 8-9, 10-13, 14-16, as well as 17+
at learning.strawbees.com. Most of our lesson plans can be broken down
into two 45-minute sessions, totaling about 2 hours.

Welcome to our global teacher community supporting the creators of our

future – happy making!

The Strawbees Education team

LEARNING BY DREAMING WHAT
AND CREATING PROGRAMMING IS

The Strawbees Educational team puts By programming we mean to frame

a lot of effort into investigating and and express a problem in such a way
exploring the full potential of learning that a computer can help us solve it.
together with researchers in
neuroscience, behavioral psychology In order for a computer to actually
and teaching - all in close cooperation assist us in solving a problem we need
with teachers and students all over the to phrase the input in such a way that
world. a particular programming language
can interpret our data (or sensor
The most amazing thing about kids is signals), then design and write the
that they can learn almost anything. algorithms to analyze it and determine
The key to being able to overcome what output should be provided.
almost any learning challenge is to
really want to conquer something new. The Strawbees Learning Platform
This incentive is best created by provides several different approaches
someone’s own clear vision of what we and programming languages, as well as
wish to achieve (change, make, compatibility with a full scale
explore). professional development
environment for advanced users to
This is why one of our most important create any project and employ it
tasks is to help all students believe in anywhere.
their own ideas and DREAM BIG. We
encourage questions and suggestions,
and support everyone to try out their
ideas.

Our unique solution provides an

intuitive first introduction to
programming, as well as infinite
opportunities for gradually building
more advanced projects using an
electronics platform fulfilling a
standard loved and tested by millions
of people who use electronics for
real-world applicable projects across
the globe. In our online tutorials,
course and lesson plans we show you
how!
HOW HUMANS & ANIMALS WORK

HOW DO WE RECEIVE INPUT? responding to the person calling out our

name, writing our own book, waving back to
Humans and animals can receive input from our friends and reciprocating a hug. All of
their surroundings through their senses. this can be viewed as our output - signals to
Most of us can hear someone call out our and impact that we make on the world.
name, read books, see someone waving
from a distance, feel the warm summer
breeze against our face, and enjoy a WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE REACTION?
friendly hug. Inside your head and spine you store the
most amazing processor, much more
sophisticated and many times more
advanced than what we have been able to
HOW DO WE MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD?
replicate by computers - your central
We can also use our voices and body to nervous system. Your fabulous brain helps
communicate and interact with our you determine when to hug your friend
environment. We can be the ones back or answer a question.

THIS IS ALSO HOW COMPUTERS

AND QUIRKBOTS WORK

The Quirkbot circuits boards that you

have just purchased offer infinite
opportunities for learning, exploring and
inventing. Our unique way of introducing
flow programming is based on presenting
different ways of giving INPUT to your
Quirkbot in order for it to communicate
back by OUTPUT such as servo motors,
LEDs - or any other additional piece of
electronics that you like.

Please enjoy the rest of this inspirational

guide for input, and welcome to our online
Teaching Center which provides teacher
support such as detailed course and
lesson plans for students of all ages.
TIPS AND TRICKS
This is a collection of tips and tricks you can use to help students understand how to use
Quirkbot. Listed in this section is support for Strawbees construction techniques and learning
how to use the hardware interface of Quirkbot. Strawbees and Quirkbot together can enhance
student learning to bring their projects to life.

STRAWBEES
CONNECT & LOCK
Strawbees are small pieces with a head and has legs used for connecting straws and to other
Strawbees.

HEAD
LEG

GROOVE

You can connect and lock Strawbees to each other in two ways:

A B

CLICK

A Slip the groove of the leg into the head B Push the leg all the way through the
of another Strawbee and listen for the head to lock the Strawbee in place. The
click! This will secure the Strawbee and still Strawbee will be limited in rotating when
allow it to rotate. placed in this position.

CONNECTING TO STRAWS

C D

SQUEEZE

C Squeeze the opening of the straw for easy D If your straws slide off the Strawbees,
insertion of the Strawbee. you can lock them with another Strawbee.
USING LOCKS
On top of combining Strawbees together, you can lock them into position using the straws to
make tension and extrusion locks. These locks are very useful for structures such as bridges for
your next design challenge!

E TENSION LOCK F EXTRUSION

LOCK

CLICK

E A tension lock can be used to secure F If you push the Strawbee further on the
the straw and Strawbee. With a Strawbee straw it will be completed locked in position
leg inside a straw, slide a seperate creating an extrusion lock.
Strawbee head along the straw and snap
onto the groove of the leg until you hear
the click!

JOINTS
Joints are useful for creating a point that can shift and move or become secure and stable in your
creation.

Connect 3 Strawbees together by lining up 2 heads and slide the leg of a third Strawbee through.
Push one Strawbee at a time and if it’s hard to fit them into each other, it helps to fold, squeeze,
etc. Strawbees are quite resistant.
G MOVING JOINT H LOCKED JOINT

CLICK
MOVING
PARTS

G If you snap the heads into the groove H If you push all the way through, the
on the leg of the third Strawbee you will Strawbees will lock into their positions for a
make a moving joint. Push halfway until locked joint.
you hear a click.

I FRICTION LOCK

1. 2.

3. 4.

FOLD THE HEAD ALL THE PUSH THE LEG

WAY TO THE BACK THROUGH THE
HOLE TO LOCK

With the moving joint, you can also fold the Strawbee head over to the otherside and snap it to
the tip of the leg to create a friction lock. This will allow the exposed legs of the Strawbees to
shift and hold into different positions.
 OFF ON
QUIRKBOT
HORN

QUIRKBOT LED
EYES
Turn on your Quirkbot by gently
LEFT
sliding the on-off switch to the ARM
right. The first time you do this,
the Quirkbot will run its factory
program and start blinking to say
hello! RIGHT
ARM
LED
MOUTH
ORIENTATION IS ALWAYS
DESCRIBED FROM THE QUIRKBOT’S
PERSPECTIVE. THE LEFT ARM IS ON RIGHT LEFT
YOUR RIGHT – JUST LIKE WHEN YOU LEG LEG
FACE ANOTHER PERSON.
USB IN

BATTERY
The Quirkbot’s battery charges
when connected by a USB cable to
a computer or another power
source like a phone charger. When
the red LED turns off, the battery is
fully charged.

USB TO COMPUTER OR CHARGER

LEDS & SENSORS

You can program Quirkbot’s built in LEDs –

blue LEDs for eyes and two green LEDs for its
mouth. In the box you will also find Dual Color
LEDs you can place on the Arms, Legs, and
Horn of the Quirkbot. These can be
programmed to be blue or red.

1. Squeeze the leads gently

together to make them grab
the Quirkbot arm better.

2. The long lead of the LED goes

on the front. Push it all the
way down!

3 Put a straw over the LED

and the Quirkbot arm. This
will help keep the
component in place.

LIGHT SENSORS
CONNECT THE SAME
WAY. LONG LEAD TO
THE FRONT!

USE THESE NODES WHEN CODING

SERVO BACKPACK SERVO MOUNT

Backpacks gives the Quirkbot extra To connect the Servo Motor to your
abilities, such as the Servo backpack Strawbees construction, Strawbees
which makes it possible to attach the themselves can be used to mount the
Servo Motor to the Quirkbot. servo. Here are two examples:

UPPERMOST PIN ON
THE BACKPACK FIT
INTO THIS OPEN SLOT
ON THE BATTERY
COVER, MAKING SURE
IT’S PLACED RIGHT!
TIGHTEN CONNECTIONS
ON THE SHORT ENDS

CONNECT THE
SERVO MOTOR

ALIGN THE BLACK * *

MARKING WITH THE
BLACK CABLE!

*PLACE YOUR
CHOICE OF
STRAWBEE ON
THE ENDS HERE
TO BEST SUIT
YOUR PROJECT.
SERVO HORN

Strawbees can connect to the arm on

the Servo, called the servo horn. You
can snap any kind of Strawbee on to
any of the included servo horns. Do
this before you attach the servo horn
to the motor with the little screw.

THE SERVO HORN AND

STRAWBEE ARE HELD IN
PLACE BY A STRAW
OVERLAPPING BOTH

THIS CAN BE A LITTLE BIT TRICKY. TRY

WIGGLING THE STRAWBEE LEG UP AND
DOWN A BIT TO GET THE STRAW OVER
THE SERVO HORN. OR MAKE THE
OPENING OF THE STRAW A LITTLE
LARGER WITH A PENCIL.
 ELECTRIC STRAWBEE

This part makes it possible to have a LED

light up without attaching it to the
Quirkbot. Use a CR2032 battery with +
side up. To turn an electric Strawbee off
and save battery, slide a piece of straw
under the connector to disconnect it.

CONNECT A LED TO AN ELECTRIC

STRAWBEE JUST LIKE ON THE
QUIRKBOT. THE INCLUDED LEDS
CAN BE PLACED IN EITHER
DIRECTION TO CHOOSE
DIFFERENT COLORS.

SQUEEZE SENSOR

On one end of a straw, place an

electric Strawbee with a LED,
and on the other end place your LIGHT
Quirkbot with attached light SENSOR
sensor. If you squeeze the straw
you will block more or less of the
light traveling through it. Using
this technique together with the
Squeeze Sensor node in CODE
gives you a fun way to control
your projects.
LED
CIRCUIT TOUCH
CONNECT TO
The Circuit Touch function can turn TRIGGER
any object that conducts electricity
into a touch interface. The arm of
CONNECTS
the Quirkbot has pads on each side
TO SENSOR
with one hole each. The front pad
(inner hole) is the sensor, and the CONNECTS
back pad (outer hole) is ground. TO GROUND
When a Sensor is connected to
Ground, it triggers.

The easiest way to make a trigger is

to simply pinch the Quirkbot’s arm.
Since your body conducts
electricity, you complete the
circuit and trigger the sensor. You
can use the included alligator
cables to extend the touch
function in many ways.

Connect the
alligator clips
standing up
from the arm.

STICK THE OTHER

ALLIGATOR CLIP
RIGHT INTO A FRUIT.
HOLD THE GROUND
TOUCH THE CLIP GROUND IN
BANANA TO ONE HAND OR
TRIGGER THE CONNECT IT TO
SENSOR! SOMETHING
CONDUCTIVE ON
YOUR BODY.
START CODING
All coding of the Quirkbot is done
from our website. The first thing to
do is to go to code.quirkbot.com and
register as a user. Next, follow the
online Getting Started guide and
examples.

QUIRKBOT CODE IS BASED ON

NODES THAT ARE CONNECTED
TOGETHER TO MAKE UP THE
PROGRAM.

START PROGRAMMING AT
WWW.QUIRKBOT.COM
I NT R O TO Q U IRK B OT
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Dive into robotics with Quirkbot! Build your first moving, robotic creature and learn about
modifying it’s behavior through movement. Student group robots will change from group to group
as you will observe that some will stride along through a swinging motion, creep very slowly like a
large and sluggish animal, or rapidly scurry across the floor.

AFTER THESE LESSONS,

STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

2 Practice practical problem solving

by testing different ways to build
and modify their robot.

1 Explore basic ways to make a structure

move and come up with creative ways to
interpret and use the movement.

3 Reflect on what robots are and how

they can be useful or entertaining for
individuals and society.
INTRODUCTION
Discover and explore the potentials of building a robot powered by Quirkbot! The Quirkbot has
many features and all of them don't need to be introduced directly to your students in the
beginning. Students navigate through the hardware and understand the anatomy of board and
using it as a construction tool with Strawbees to design a robot.

ROBOTS IN SOCIETY
Spark curiosity by leading students with questions about why we want to use robots in our
everyday lives. Discuss examples of robots from different instances: industry, home,
manufacturing, social, software bots. What are robots and where are they in society?

QUIRKBOT ROBOTICS
The features presented to students at the start of the lesson is the following:

• The Quirkbot can be programmed and already have a program in it for this challenge.
• The body of Quirkbot has arms, legs, eyes and a horn that can each serve different functions.
• A straw can slide on each arm, leg, and horn acting like Strawbees connectors.
• The backpack is critical to provide enough voltage and power to run the servo motor.
• Introduce the anatomy of the Quirkbot including the power switch, how to attach the backpack,
and the servo motor together. You can refer to the Quirkbot Tips and Tricks section for this part.

ROBOT CHALLENGE
Create a moving creature or robot using Strawbees and Quirkbot that can travel across the table
or floor. Remember that building anything that moves can be a robot!
Encourage students to take risks and make mistakes when building their robots. This is especially
important when they are reflecting on their “failures” as engineers engage in this process often
when building models and testing. The longer the building process goes on the more interesting
things happen!

?
 INTRO TO QUIRKBOT
ALL AGE GROUPS

OVERVIEW

In this lesson the student will build their first moving robot with Strawbees
and Quirkbot. They will learn to translate the motion of a motor to a funny,
useful or meaningful movement. They will also familiarize themselves with
the materials like the Quirkbot, the Backpack and the Servo motor.

CHALLENGE

Divide the class into groups of 2-3 students and give 1 Quirkbot with a
backpack and servo motor per group. Have groups free build structures
using Strawbees and attach the Quirkbot to bring their robot to life!

MATERIALS

Straws Scissors 1-Legged 2-Legged 3-Legged 5-Legged

300 10 Strawbees Strawbees Strawbees Strawbees
100 100 100 100

2-Legged
Quirkbot Quirkbot Servo Servo Motor Strawbees Servo Servo Motor
10 Backpacks 10 Motor Arm Mount
10 100 20

ACCESS THE FULL LESSON AT learning.strawbees.com/quirkbot-intro

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1 Familiarity with the Quirkbot and the components: Backpack and Servo Motor.
2 Explore many ways to connect the Quirkbot and Servo Motor to Strawbees structures.
3 Collaborate as a team to build on the ideas of others and tell a story about what is created.
4 Reflect on what robots are and how they can be useful for individuals and in society.

CLASSROOM PREPARATION
• Build basic robots with Strawbees and Quirkbot either by following our online tutorial or by
participating in a teacher training workshop before the lesson.
• Fully charge all Quirkbots and that they are running the factory preset code found in the link
on the previous page for the full lesson plan online.
• Make sure the Servo Motor Mounts and 2-Legged Strawbee Servo Horn are attached to all of
the Servo Motors. You can make these by referring to Quirkbot Tips and Tricks section of this
booklet.

DURATION
Two, 45-minute sessions.

DURATION ACTIVITY TIPS

10 min What Are Robots?

5 min Quirkbot Anatomy

20 min Free Building

10 min Robotic Creatures

35 min Building

10 min Reflection

REFLECTION
Review learning objectives and have a few students describe what they learned throughout the
challenge. Ask your students the following questions:

• What happens to your robot’s movement when you use the Quirkbot as a 5-legged Strawbee?
• What happens if you move the servo mount slightly from it’s current position on the robot?
• Why does the motor need to be connected both to the motor mount and the motor arm?
• Does your robot move differently if you trim the length of 1 straw randomly?
• What happens if you turn your robot upside down?
Q UI RKBOT CH AL L E N G ES
Take part in one of our coding challenges!
Build a structure from Strawbees and make it
come to life using Quirkbot!
BLINKING STAR
Create a Quirkbot blinking Star with
dual color LEDs over the arms and
legs held in place with straws.

TOUCH-SENSITIVE
SPACE HELMET
Create a space helmet with any
Strawbees geometric shape and make
a visor open by gripping the arms of
the Quirkbot to move the servo
motor.
BANANA PIANO
You can use Quirkbot as a
keyboard that sends commands
to a music program and play
sounds from your computer.

BALANCING GAME

Create a seesaw on top of a Strawbees

pyramid balanced by a servo motor
controlled by pinching the Quirkbot
pads with your hands.
LIGHT-SENSITIVE
PARASOL
Create an interactive Strawbees
parasol that opens and protects you
from the sun’s rays!

STRIDERBOT

Build a robot that strides along

through a swinging motion with a
servo motor.
PLEASE CONTACT US AT
[email protected]
 Full lesson plans available at
learning.strawbees.com
Challenges suitable from age
5 to university!

UNLEASHING CREATIVITY AND

MAKING PROGRAMMING EASY
Empowering teachers to
help students believe
in their own ideas!