💻 TechnologyLevel 1Lesson 4
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Recognize Smart Toys, Robots, and Assistants

Lesson preview: the Mini Lesson and Vocabulary are open to everyone. Guided practice, exercises, the parent checklist and the printable PDF worksheet come with full access (free 7-day trial or membership).

Learning Objectives

  • 1Recognize smart toys, robots, and voice assistants
  • 2Match each device to the job it does
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Mini Lesson

Technology is not just on screens — it can be in toys, machines, and little speakers on the kitchen counter! Smart devices are all around us, each doing a different helpful job.

Smart toys

  • A smart toy can respond to what you do or say — it can move, talk, or change what it does.
  • Example: Codey Rocky is a robot toy you can program to move in any direction.
  • Smart toys are different from regular toys because they react and can be taught new actions.

Robots

  • A robot is a machine that can be programmed to carry out tasks automatically.
  • Example: a robot vacuum maps your floor and cleans it without anyone pushing it.
  • Robots do jobs that are repetitive, dangerous, or just hard for people to do alone.

Voice assistants

  • A voice assistant is a smart speaker or device that listens for your voice and responds.
  • Example: Amazon Echo (Alexa) can play music, set timers, and answer questions — all by voice.
  • Voice assistants use AI to understand what you say and decide how to help.
Three types of smart devices: smart toys, robots, and voice assistantsThree cards side by side. Left card: smart toy — a small programmable robot. Middle card: robot — a robot vacuum on the floor. Right card: voice assistant — a smart speaker.SmartToyreacts towhat you doprogrammableRobotdoes tasksautomaticallyself-movingVoiceAssistantanswers whenyou speakAI-poweredAll three react, move, or speak — they are smart!Regular devices just do one fixed job.
Three types of smart devices — a programmable toy robot, a robot vacuum, and a voice-assistant smart speaker — with the key feature of each.
Smart devices matched to the jobs they doFour rows. Each row shows a device name on the left connected by an arrow to the job it does on the right.Device → What it doesCoding robot toyFollows your programmed movesRobot vacuumCleans floors on its ownSmart speakerAnswers questions by voiceInteractive pet toyReacts to touch and soundEvery smart device has a specific job it does!
Four smart devices — coding robot toy, robot vacuum, smart speaker, and interactive pet toy — each matched to the job it does.
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Ask yourself: "Does this device react, move on its own, or answer when I speak? If yes, it is probably a smart device!

Vocabulary
Smart toy
A toy that can talk, move, or change what it does in response to youe.g. My smart toy giggles when I press its tummy.
Robot
A machine that can be programmed to do a job by itselfe.g. The robot vacuum cleans the floor without anyone pushing it.
Voice assistant
A smart speaker that listens for your voice and answerse.g. I asked the voice assistant to play a song.
Program
A set of instructions that tells a machine what to doe.g. We added a program so the toy moves left and right.
Device
A small machine that does a special jobe.g. A phone is a device that lets us call people.
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← Lesson 3: Learn That Some Tools Can Answer Questions (Like ChatGPT)Lesson 5: Discuss How People Teach Machines What to Do →