Terrapin Resources

Go Cart Rally Mat

View a larger version of the mat.

Students will have run driving around the Go Cart Rally Mat. They learn directionality and sequence planning while maneuvering Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot through the track’s twists and turns.

Lesson Ideas

Although these ideas refer to Bee-Bot, they can also be done with Blue-Bot or Pro-Bot.

Remind students to press X to erase the commands the previous student entered on their Bee-Bot or Blue-Bot. Have Pro-Bot users clear their commands as well.

Lesson Idea 1:

This mat has a single route, but it involves many commands, 27 in all.

Have students keep track of their commands on a worksheet or using Command Cards, sold separately.

Encourage students to plan ahead and figure out the entire route before entering any commands. Students can work in a small group and plan it together. One student can pretend to be the Bee-Bot, placing their hand on the mat and moving and turning it as other students name the commands in order. This way, they can debug the program as they plan.

Lesson Idea 2: Using the Online Go Cart Mat

If students are using computers in your classroom, have them use the online CVC Mat in the Bee-Bot Emulator in a browser. They can explore the mat using these Lesson ideas.

They can enter a few commands, then press Go.
After they enter a few more commands, they can press Home before Go. This allows Bee-Bot to run all the instructions from the beginning.

Lesson Idea 3: Going Backwards

Using either the floor mat or the online mat, students can take the more difficult challenge of moving Bee-Boe backwards around the track. Can they simply take the commands they used to move forward and enter them in the reverse order? Can they just enter the opposite commands in reverse order?

Mat Details

The mat is made of washable vinyl and measures approximately 24” by 24” (60 cm by 60 cm).

View the mat in Terrapin’s store.