Your Role on the Team
By the end of today, you will…
- Understand what each of the 4 Future Edition roles does
- Try all 4 roles through quick hands-on stations
- Choose your primary role for the season (you'll rotate later)
- Understand why all 4 roles are equally needed
Materials for Week 3
- Index cards or printed code block sheets (Station 3)
- Paper clips, tape, and rubber bands (Station 2, one set per team)
- Erasers or coins (small objects for Stations 1 and 2)
- Engineering notebooks — one per student
- Chromebooks (for the role selection activity above)
Meet the 4 roles
Controls the robot's movement on the field with a wireless controller. You decide where the robot goes and when.
Needs: strategy, spatial awareness, staying calm under pressure
Designs and uses a mechanical tool or attachment — no coding required. You make the physical parts that grab, push, or carry things.
Needs: building skills, creativity, patience with small pieces
Designs and programs a coded robotic tool. You write the code that makes the robot do specific actions automatically.
Needs: logical thinking, comfort with trial and error
Leads the research project, coordinates the team's presentation, and controls the team device on the field.
Needs: curiosity, organization, confidence explaining ideas
Teacher notes ▾
Emphasize that no role is harder or more important than any other — each one is a genuine contribution to the team's outcome.
Ask: "What would happen if your team had no Specialist?" Then: "What if you had no Driver?" — they'll see quickly that every role is a dependency on every other role.
Role rotation stations
How it works
There are 4 stations — one for each role. Your whole team moves to each station together and spends about 8 minutes there. At every station, each person has a specific job (shown on the station card). Pay attention to which roles feel natural and which feel challenging — both reactions tell you something useful.
Verbal navigation challenge
Who does what: Assign roles before you start. Rotate after each round so everyone gets a turn at every job.
- Navigator (1 person): Gives only verbal directions — no pointing, no touching. Examples: "forward 2 steps," "turn right," "stop."
- Mover (1 person): Moves the eraser or block exactly as directed. No guessing what the Navigator means — follow instructions literally.
- Observer (everyone else): Watch and note when a direction was unclear or caused the wrong move. You'll share this in the debrief.
How to run it:
- One person draws a simple obstacle course on paper — 3 obstacles, any shape. (1 min)
- Round 1: Navigator guides Mover through the course using only words. (2 min)
- Switch roles — new Navigator, new Mover. Repeat. (2 min)
- Keep switching until everyone has been Navigator at least once.
How precise do your directions need to be? What happened when a direction was even slightly off?
Paper clip tool build
Who does what: This is a team build — everyone works together. Assign one job each:
- Designer (1 person): Decides the overall shape and structure of the tool. Describes what to build.
- Builder (1–2 people): Bends, connects, and assembles the paper clips and rubber band based on the designer's plan.
- Tester (1 person): Tries the tool on the object and reports what works and what doesn't.
The goal: Using only paper clips, tape, and one rubber band, build a tool that can pick up a small object (eraser or coin) and move it 10 cm — without anyone touching the object with their hands. You have 8 minutes.
Does it work? What would you change if you had 5 more minutes?
Code block sequencing
Who does what:
- Each person: Works individually first — write your sequence on paper. (3 min)
- Then as a team: Compare answers. Where do you agree? Where do you disagree? Agree on one final sequence together. (3 min)
The task: These 8 code blocks are scrambled. Put them in the correct order so a robot picks up an object and delivers it:
- Drop object
- Move forward 2 steps
- Turn left 90°
- Pick up object
- Start
- Turn right 90°
- Move forward 3 steps
- Move forward 3 steps
Did everyone get the same order? If not — which sequence makes more sense, and why?
Research and explain
Who does what:
- Each person individually: Read the problem below, then write your own answers on paper. (3 min)
- Then as a team: Share your answers round-robin — one sentence each, no interrupting. Pick the best solution sentence together. (3 min)
The problem: "Engineers are trying to build a robot that can work in tight underground spaces. It needs to move carefully and carry small objects without dropping them. Current robots are too big and break easily."
Write: (1) one solution sentence, and (2) one question you'd want to research before building anything.
Did your teammates write different solutions? Which one is most realistic? Which is most creative?
Teacher notes ▾
Set a visible timer for each station — 8 minutes per station is tight by design. Announce transitions clearly and keep things moving.
After all 4 stations, bring the class together. Ask: "Raise your hand if you found one that felt natural." Then: "Raise your hand if you found one that felt really hard." Both reactions are useful data — the hard ones are where growth happens.
Encourage students to choose their primary role based on genuine interest. Every choice is valid.
Choose your role
Activity: Claim your role
Click "This is my role" on the card that fits you best. You'll rotate into other roles during the season — everyone tries everything at least once.
You'll decide where and when the robot moves on the field. Strategy and calm under pressure are your superpowers.
You'll build the physical attachments that grab, push, and carry — no coding needed. Creativity and patience are your superpowers.
You'll write the code that makes the robot act automatically. Logical thinking and persistence are your superpowers.
You'll lead the research project and the presentation — and run the team device on the field. Curiosity and confidence are your superpowers.
You'll rotate into other roles during the season — everyone tries everything at least once.
Team role check
Once everyone has chosen, check as a team: does your team of 3–4 cover all 4 roles?
If you have 3 members, one person takes two roles. Which two go best together? Hint: Operator + Technician work closely on the robot hardware and code. Driver + Specialist work closely on field strategy and presentation.
Teacher notes ▾
If two students want the same role, don't resolve it for them. Ask them to negotiate using the team agreement from Week 1: "What does your agreement say about disagreements?" This is a real-world application of Week 1's work.
Engineering notebook — Week 3 entry
Teacher notes ▾
Collect a quick verbal check: ask each student to say their role aloud so the whole team hears it. This makes role ownership real and public — it matters.
Post a team roles chart somewhere visible alongside the Team Agreement from Week 1. Both documents should be on the wall every session from here on.