EMILI is using ozobots to simulate agtech in Manitoba classrooms as part of Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM)
Over three weeks of classroom visits, EMILI team members are making connections with more than 65 students from Grades 1 to 4, providing a hands-on introduction to coding while teaching youth about the diverse careers and technologies that exist on the modern farm.
Ozobots are small orb-shaped robots designed to help students learn basic coding and programming. Students are shown how to code the ozobot using colour patterns drawn onto a custom map.
Ozobots are small, desk-friendly robots that can be used to simulate on-farm technology.
EMILI designed four unique maps to introduce students to on-farm technology used on Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert for soil sampling, seeding, spraying, and drone operations. Using wheels and sensors to follow a path, the ozobots behavior changes as it detects the colour pattern coded by the students.
Students are taught how to program ozobots to avoid obstacles like water and weather stations. For example, on one map, the ozobot acts as a drone scanning a field for weeds. Students are shown how to program the ozobot to avoid windy patches that might send the drone off-course.
Jennifer Cox and Brittanie Parisien introducing students at Victor HL Wyatt School to digital agriculture using ozobots. Photo by Antonio DeLuca.
“This is the second year EMILI has taken part and it is definitely one of my favourite outreach activities,” said EMILI Communications Manager Jennifer Cox. “The students have so many questions about where our food comes from and what technology farmers use. It is inspiring to see their perspectives shift as they learn how technology is used on modern farms.”
Each year during Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month, Agriculture in the Classroom invites volunteers to Manitoba classrooms to teach youth about agriculture through fun and interactive activities. This is the second year that a team from EMILI has participated.