A Lesson Plan for Teaching Computational Thinking Using a Weather Forecaster Robot

Weather and weather forecasting are closely related to our daily lives. TV weather forecasting programs are common worldwide. Producing such a program requires a team with various skills, including not only the meteorologist who provides commentary but also the host, camera operators, video editors, script writers, etc. In Japan, researchers are exploring automation technologies for weather programs. Therefore, we thought that simulating the production of a TV weather forecasting program would be an excellent exercise for enhancing computational thinking skills.

LEGO SPIKE Prime can access real-time weather forecasting for major locations worldwide using weather blocks.  By specifying the desired location, weather blocks provide 240-hour weather forecasts from Yr.no, delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and NRK.  LEGO Education offers several lesson plans, but they merely utilize the forecasted values such as temperature and wind speed. On the internet, there is an enhanced version of LEGO's lesson plan where a weather-caster robot vocalizes the city and temperature. This report presents a more sophisticated lesson plan that we designed and implemented.

Our lesson plan has three main features. First, students learn data processing. For data processing, students will learn arrays, comparison operations, regression analysis, conditional branching, loops, etc. Then, students are tasked with programming to determine the daily maximum and minimum temperatures for ten days and analyze the temperature trend, such as warming or cooling. Additionally, by examining the atmospheric pressure trend, students can infer whether the weather is stable, improving, or deteriorating.

Second, students design and build a mobile weather caster robot. The original LEGO weather-caster robot can move its hands but cannot move around. TV meteorologists typically move around the studio to present weather charts, satellite imagery, and other visuals. In our lesson, the weather-caster robot is designed to be mobile. Additionally, we prepared a script for a brief weather forecast program. The script includes main segments such as "The weather forecast for tomorrow is," and complementary phrases like "sunny," "rainy," and so on. Using a sound block, we can make the weather-caster robot vocalize the forecast. Students will modify the script and create their own weather forecast scenarios.

Third, we prepare a small studio set for each group, including a web camera and a computer installed with OBS software. Students are tasked with moving the weather-caster robot based on their scenario. Students will experience the chroma key technique, a visual effects method that layers two video streams together based on color hues. This technique allows for compositing the robot footage with weather graphics, simulating a professional weather broadcast.

Students are expected to develop their computational thinking skills through delivering weather forecasts. Additionally, students will realize the importance of STEM in our society through this purposefully designed lesson plan.