All Levels and Ages
STEM
Brownie/Junior Amazon Video Tour Activity
Tour an Amazon fulfillment center and see STEM in action.
Want to see the future now? Get an inside peek of an Amazon Fulfillment Center. Do hands-on activities while you watch!
Activity Details
Time needed: 15 minutes
Materials needed:
- Computer, tablet, or smartphone with Wi-Fi
- Amazon Tour Journal (download and print out)
- Pencil
- Colored pencils or markers (optional)
Setup:
Have you or someone in your family ever ordered something from Amazon? Maybe you got a book, art supplies, a puzzle, or a fun toy. Do you know what happens between the time you click "buy" and the time the package shows up at your home? Well, now's your chance to find out.
Amazon uses computers and robots to get customers the things they order. Amazon engineers give the computer instructions called algorithms. Algorithms guide robots at Amazon Fulfillment Centers. Robots help Amazon employees store and find things people buy. Amazon keeps information, or data, about the things they sell and their customers’ orders in the cloud. That’s a group of computers that work together to store and process large amounts of information.
People, robots, and computers work together in the Amazon Fulfillment Centers. They find customers’ items, package them up, and send them out. Learn how people use science and teamwork to get the job done.
Activity:
- Print out the Amazon Video Tour Journal.
- Gather writing and drawing tools.
- Ask a grown-up for permission to watch the video and to help you set up your computer, tablet, or smartphone to watch it.
- Start watching the video tour.
- Stop the video when the guide tells you to do an activity in your Tour Journal.
Stop 1: Organize Things
How do you organize things? In your journal, write about or draw a way you organize things. Choose clothes, toys, books, or something else. Do you have a special place to keep them? Do you keep them in any order, such as by size or color?
If you were a computer, you would organize data, not things. You would organize your data in a database using electronic folders. Amazon’s database is cloud-based. That means it stores data on the internet.
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 2: Create Algorithms
An algorithm is a list of steps to complete a task. Computers and robots can follow an algorithm written in a language they can understand. This is called code.
In your journal, write or draw the steps you follow to get ready for school or for bed.
The steps you listed are an algorithm. Amazon uses algorithms to look at a customer’s address and then choose the best Fulfillment Center to pick the item they ordered. Hercules uses algorithms to stow and retrieve items.
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 3: Design Your Dream Workstation
Imagine you could build your dream workstation. Think about a workstation to do homework or a craft project. What would it look like? What special features would it have? Draw or describe it in your journal.
Do you like designing and building things? You might be a great engineer!
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 4: Imagine a New Way to Deliver Packages
Can you imagine a robot or a drone bringing a package to you? Draw an electric delivery vehicle, robot, or drone in your journal. Include special features to help it do its job.
Amazon tries to use delivery vehicles that are better for the environment. They might use electric vehicles, robots, and even drones.
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Wrap up: How do you see yourself in the future?
What is something exciting you learned today? Did you imagine yourself working with robots? Designing workstations? Writing computer code?
In your journal, draw yourself in a future career, or draw your favorite thing you learned today.
When you're done, fill out this quick survey and let us know what you thought of the tour.
Are you interested in working with robots or learning to write algorithms for computers?
Check out the Girl Scouts Robotics and Coding for Good badges, or the Think Like a Programmer Journey.
What about engineering? Look at the Automotive Engineering and Mechanical Engineering badges, or the Think Like an Engineer Journey.
Want to learn even more about cool jobs in STEM? Check out the STEM Career Exploration badge.
Learn more about Girl Scouts’ Journeys and badges on the Award and Badge Explorer.
Girl Scout Activity Zone activities have been adapted from existing Girl Scout programming.
Explore more activities.
