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Volume III, Issue 3 ~ December 2024


Greetings!


Bee-Bot Buzz helps you make the most of the Bee-Bots, Blue‑Bots, and other related STEM products we offer for your young learners. Engage students in curriculum concepts and problem-solving with these fun robots and find out how other educators use them.


In this issue:

  • New! Going Places Mat Bundle
  • Bee-Bot Earned a Spot in Purdue's 2024 INSPIRE Gift Guide
  • Update + Home for Teacher-Created Bee-Bot Emulator Mats
  • Kinderlogo Is Now Tablet-Friendly!
  • Quick Links to Resources


Click to view archives of past Bee-Bot Buzz issues.

New Going Places Mat Bundle

Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots are on the go with fun places to explore on these colorful mats!


The location-based mats in this new bundle help students explore their communities and neighborhoods, practice directional words, create stories, follow directions, plan strategic routes, and much more. You can try the mats in the Bee-Bot Online Emulator.


Unlimited coding experiences for students make these mats a perfect addition to your STEM program. Our Resources area contains lesson ideas for all our mats.


Special Offer! The total cost of the mats is discounted when purchased in the bundle. Order the Going Places Mat Bundle now through January 31, 2025, and get free U.S. shipping for it and all other items in your cart!

Includes Community Mat, Country Road Mat, Go Cart Rally Mat, Old West Mat, School Mat

Bee-Bot Earned a Spot in Purdue's 2024 INSPIRE Gift Guide

Bee-Bot is one of just 40 K–12 engineering products selected for Purdue University's 2024 INSPIRE Gift Guide!


The Bee-Bot reviewer got it right. We couldn't have said it better ourselves!


"Are you looking for a fun and engaging way to introduce a child you know to coding? Bee-Bot is the perfect starting point! This simple, yet versatile robot helps young learners develop problem-solving skills while having fun with basic programming concepts....


"Bee-Bot makes learning fun and interactive while introducing early coding concepts like directional commands and sequencing....


"The simple design and user-friendly interface make Bee-Bot a great way to engage little ones with STEM concepts in a playful way. As children play, they’ll not only learn how to program, but also how to think critically and creatively—skills that will benefit them in the classroom and beyond."

- Reviewer Jennifer Heap


Read the full review and see the other products in the guide.


Update + Home for Teacher-Created Bee-Bot Emulator Mats

In the October 2024 issue of Bee-Bot Buzz, we reported how educators used Bee-Bots to teach coding to children in Carson, CA. The feedback about this project was inspiring. One teacher asked the creator of the Electric Vehicle mats if she would share the mats.


With that request, Ashley Ruiz, of the Snap Inc. Institute of Technology and Education (SITE) at California State University, Dominquez Hills, shared not only her website with the two EV mats, but also the worksheet for the challenges.


We asked Ashley if we could post the mats in the Bee-Bot Emulator. She agreed, as long as they were free to educators. She and her colleague Mike Karlin also shared mats for a Beach Clean-up Project they developed. The two levels of these mats are also available in the Bee-Bot Emulator.


With these four mats, plus two others we told you about in the May 2024 Bee-Bot Buzz, we now have a Teacher-Created Bee-Bot Mat Center.


We would love to add more mats! Do you have a mat to share with other educators? We can create a Bee-Bot Online Emulator version of it and share it along with any learning materials you have to go with it—all at no cost to you. We are committed to providing teacher-tested resources.


To start the process, please fill out our Customer Contribution Form. We'll be in touch to work out the details. We look forward to seeing your mats in our emulator!

Kinderlogo Is Now Tablet-Friendly!


Are your young learners using tablets at school or at home? Until now, Kinderlogo hasn't been compatible with tablets because of their small screen size.


In Kinderlogo, children give commands by typing letters and numbers on a keyboard. F moves the turtle forward, R turns it to the right, and so on.


Using the tablet's built-in onscreen keyboard just isn't an option, as it takes up too much screen space. However, small Bluetooth keyboards are widely available for just $10–$15.


Kinderlogo, written in the Logo language, makes use of Logo's ability to detect the device's screen size. Kinderlogo automatically adjusts to a smaller layout for tablets, while retaining the original layout for PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks.


We tested the updated activities on iPads and Kindle Fires connected to a small Bluetooth keyboard—its small footprint, lack of cables, and easy charging made for a good solution.


A tablet plus a Bluetooth keyboard is a handy pairing for Kinderlogo and any other purpose that requires typing.


Try it yourself with the Kinderlogo 30-Day Free Trial!

Kinderlogo running on a Kindle Fire HD 8 Plus paired to an 7–8" Detuosi ultrathin Bluetooth keyboard.

Bee-Bot can explore an AI-generated town in this new set of Coding Journeys mats.

Decorate your Bee-Bots and Blue-Bots for the season with Bee-Signer Jackets!

In this teacher-created mat from Tennessee, students code Bee-Bot to find the answer.

Quick Links to Resources


Bee-Bot Lessons ~ for Bee-Bot and Blue-Bot! Explore 200 lessons and 600+ online activities for K–2 learners in all curriculum areas. Preview it!


Problem-Solving with Bee-Bot ~ 150 challenges to try in the classroom or online. Preview it!


Exploring Math with Blue-Bot ~ Coding fun with Blue-Bot while practicing math skills. Preview it!


Kinderlogo ~ Creative math activities organized in 5 levels for K–3 learners to explore online. Preview it! or Get a 30-day Free Trial!


52 Ideas for Kinderlogo (free) ~ Booklet to get you and your students started with Kinderlogo. Included are lessons for each of the five levels.


Lessons Ideas (free) ~ Get teaching tips for all our learning mats and other accessories.


Accessories Chart (free) ~ Which accessories and curriculum products work with each robot?


Customer Stories (free) ~ See how others use 'bots and other technology. Send us your story!

Bee-Bot Online Emulator (free) ~ Explore with Bee-Bot in your web browser using a variety of mats.


Blue-Bot Online Emulator (free) ~ Navigate Blue-Bot using both 45° and 90° angles and repeat loops.


Teacher-Created Mats (free) ~

Try some fun mats that educators have made for you and your students to use.


Monthly Emulator Mats (free) ~ A new mat to explore every month!


Coding Journeys (free) ~ Compare Bee-Bot, Blue-Bot, and Pro-Bot in 14 sets of free online activities.

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We Want to Hear from You!


Share your Bee-Bot mats and ideas for new product features with us by filling out our Customer Contribution Form. Do you have images of students using Bee-Bots or Blue-Bots that you can send us? We'd love to feature them in a Bee-Bot Buzz or a Customer Story.

Terrapin | 955 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 365 | Cambridge, MA 02139 

800-774-LOGO (5646) | +1-508-487-8181 (international) | Fax 617-302-9778

terrapinlogo.com | facebook.com/BeeBot.us | instagram.com/terrapin.tools.for.thinking


Find our Turtle Tuesdays Logo coding challenges on Facebook and Instagram each week!

Visit the Turtle Tuesdays web page to see all the challenges and solutions.

Some challenges also apply to Kinderlogo, Pro-Bot, and InO-Bot users.

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