During this activity, the children will explore autumn trees, their fruits and seeds, using the ‘Bee-Bot’ programmable educational robot. They will learn to recognise four types of trees – maple, spruce, chestnut and oak – and identify which fruits or seeds belong to each tree.

The activity will focus on the fruits and seeds of these four tree species: chestnuts, winged seeds (samaras), acorns and pine cones. The children will look at photographs of these objects and learn to match them with the trees from which they come. They will learn that chestnuts grow on chestnut trees, winged seeds (samaras) on maple trees, acorns on oak trees, and pine cones on fir trees.

First, the children will colour in pictures of four trees and their corresponding fruits or seeds. They will then prepare the pictures for the "Bee-Bot" activity mat by arranging them in different squares on the grid. The mat will feature pictures of the trees and their fruits or seeds, forming a route that the ‘Bee-Bot’ can follow.

Working in small groups, the children will choose a fruit or seed and identify which tree it comes from. They will then programme the "Bee-Bot" to travel from the fruit or seed to the corresponding tree. For example, the "Bee-Bot" will travel from a chestnut to a chestnut tree, from an acorn to an oak tree, from a winged seed to a maple tree, and from a pine cone to a spruce tree.

Before pressing the buttons, the children will be encouraged to plan the robot’s route and work out how many steps and turns will be needed to reach the required tree. They will use the "Bee-Bot" direction buttons to enter commands, including moving forwards, backwards, turning left and turning right.

Once they have programmed the "Bee-Bot", the children will watch it move and check whether it reaches the correct tree. If the robot does not reach the intended location, they will work together to identify the error and correct the sequence of commands.

Throughout the activity, the teacher will encourage the children to name trees and their fruits or seeds, explain their choices and work together with their classmates. The activity will combine environmental awareness, early maths, logical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and the development of basic programming skills.

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