By Years 5 and 6, most students can drag a few blocks together and make a robot move. The harder part for teachers is the next step: lessons where the coding carries real learning in maths, science or literacy, and where students have to think, predict and fix their own mistakes.
Sphero BOLT+ suits that stage well. Students can start by drawing a path, move to drag-and-drop blocks, then write JavaScript or Python in the same free Sphero Edu app. Its 128×128 pixel screen can display real-time sensor data, so students can see what their program is doing while it runs. And one robot supports two learners, which makes pair programming the default rather than an extra.
Here are five lesson ideas you can adapt for upper primary, plus a few notes on running them with a whole class.
1. Angles and headings: code a polygon
Subject focus: maths (angles, 2D shapes)
Give each pair a target shape: a square, an equilateral triangle, then a hexagon. Before they touch the robot, students use the 360° protractor that comes with BOLT+ to work out the heading for each side and write their predictions down.
Then they program BOLT+ to trace the shape. If the robot doesn't close the shape cleanly, students compare their predicted headings with what they coded and adjust.
Push it further: ask students to find the rule. What do the turns add up to for any closed shape? Can they program a shape nobody else has tried, like a pentagon or octagon?
2. Estimate, code, measure: the Roll to Distance challenge
Subject focus: maths (measurement, estimation)
BOLT+ has an exclusive Roll to Distance block in Sphero Edu, which tells the robot how far to travel rather than how long to roll. That makes it a neat tool for measurement lessons.
Set up targets on the floor with masking tape at distances students don't know. Pairs estimate each distance, program BOLT+ to reach it, then check with a tape measure. They record the estimate, the programmed distance and the actual result in a table.
Push it further: have students convert between centimetres and metres as they go, or design a delivery route with three stops and calculate the total distance before they run it.
3. Read the data: a sensor investigation
Subject focus: science (fair testing, data)
Because BOLT+ can show live sensor data on its screen, students can connect what the robot is doing with the numbers it reports. Choose one sensor reading that Sphero Edu offers for BOLT+ and frame a simple question around it, such as how the reading changes when the robot rolls on different surfaces or at different speeds.
Students plan a fair test (what they'll change and what they'll keep the same), run the program several times, record the readings and graph the results. The coding is short; the thinking is in the investigation.
Push it further: ask students to write a conditional in their program so the robot reacts when a reading crosses a value they choose.
4. Bug hunt: debugging with the screen
Subject focus: Digital Technologies (computational thinking)
Write a short program with two or three deliberate errors: a wrong heading, a loop that runs one time too many, a speed that's too high for the course. Share it with every pair.
Students predict what the program should do, run it, then use the screen to narrow down the problem. For example, they can add blocks that display a value or a message at checkpoints, so the robot shows where it has reached in the code. Pairs record each bug, how they found it and how they fixed it.
Push it further: pairs write a buggy program for another pair to solve. Writing a good bug is surprisingly hard, and it shows how well students understand the code.
5. Coded storytelling with animations
Subject focus: English (narrative), creative arts
BOLT+ can display 650+ graphics and animations on its screen. Students choose a short scene from a class text or write their own, then program BOLT+ to act it out: moving through the setting, changing its expression on screen as the character's feelings change, and pausing at key moments.
For more confident coders, BOLT+ robots can communicate with each other using infrared, so two robots can play two characters who react to each other.
Push it further: students write a script alongside the program and explain which code choices match which moments in the story.
Running these lessons with a whole class
A few practical points make these ideas work with 25–30 students rather than a small group:
- Two students per robot. One drives the device, one navigates and records. Swap roles halfway. With 15 robots, a class of 30 can work at once.
- Check your devices first. Sphero Edu runs on Chrome, Mac, PC, iOS, Android and Kindle, and the web app lets students code from a browser without installing anything, which helps Chromebook schools.
- Plan charging into the routine. BOLT+ uses wireless charging, and Shake to Wake means robots are ready quickly at the start of a lesson. For a class set, the Sphero BOLT+ Power Pack keeps 15 robots charged and stored in one case, with an Educator Guide and 20 challenge cards.
- Use the free lessons. Sphero Central includes lessons and guides for BOLT+, and Sphero's Australian BOLT+ Educator Guide includes references to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies (Version 8.4).
Getting started
If your school already has older Sphero robots, it's worth reading about the Sphero BOLT+ Upgrade Program before you plan a new class set.
To see what's in the box and how BOLT+ fits your classroom, visit our Sphero BOLT page, or browse the full Sphero BOLT+ range for class packs and accessories.