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Curious Kids: Robots & Robotics

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Did You Know?

The world’s biggest humanoid (it means it looks like a person) robot, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is named Mononofu ("samurai warrior" in Japanese), and stands 27 feet 9 inches tall! It’s designed to look like robots from Japanese animation.

Some books below may be eBooks or audiobooks. ask a librarian or parent for help.

Fiction Books

Non-fiction Books

Fun Activities

Robotic Maker Kits
Try programming and operating a robot at home with these fun and exciting Library Maker Kits! Note: A parent or guardian must place a hold on the kit using their library card. When notified the kit is ready, the adult should bring their library card and driver's license and pick up the kit at the Children's Service Desk at the Library.


Robots Rule Crossword Puzzle
How well do you know your robots? Solve this crossword puzzle.

Design Squad Build from PBS Kids.
Two designs on this page involve robotics. A couple require special supplies. All will have you thinking while you design!

Gingerbread Robot from NASA
Just for fun, make a cool robot from gingerbread cookies! One recipe makes two robots. (Cool snack for a robotics team meeting!)

Make a Balloon-powered Nanorover from NASA Spaceplace.
NASA built a tiny rover just a couple of inches high to explore the surface of an asteroid and take pictures. You can build a one, too, from three foam meat trays. (This project may call for some help from a grownup.)

ROVER (Robotic Online Virtual Exploration Rover from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Plan and pre-set a path that will move the rover around obstacles to its target.

Movies

Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius
When his parents are kidnapped by aliens, the boy with the robot dog assembles an interstellar starfleet to rescue them.

Wallace & Gromit [DVD and Blu-Ray]
Wallace and his silent, but smart dog, Gromit, invent robots every day, starting with the machines that get Wallace out of bed in the morning!

WALL-E [DVD and Blu-Ray]
After hundreds of years with only a cockroach for a companion, a robot finds a new purpose in life when another robot appears.

Transformers collection DVD
Share the adventures of the Autobots robots as they defend humankind against the evil Decepticons!

Websites

First Lego League
A problem-solving competition for kids, where teams create working robots.

The Mars Rovers: Sojourner
Read about the very first robot the US space program sent to Mars.

NASA’s Robots in Space
Read about the kinds of robots used by NASA in space exploration.

Roboticists Answer Our Questions from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Read what real robotics workers have to say about how they became interested in robotics, what they did in school to prepare, and what they do on the job.

White House Maker Faire
Read about some of the kid inventors and inventions featured at a 2014 "maker faire" at the White House, including a robotic giraffe.