All Levels and Ages
STEM
Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Amazon Video Tour Activity
Tour an Amazon Fulfillment Center
Want to see the future now? Get an insider’s view 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
- Paper
- Pencil
- Colored pencils or markers (optional)
Setup:
Have you or someone in your family ever bought something online? Maybe you got a book, art supplies, a basketball, or a chemistry set. 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, to 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 information.
Amazon uses computers to make sure every customer gets exactly what they ordered. That’s called quality control, and it helps keep customers happy. So does getting their purchase quickly, Amazon also uses computers to manage shipping and delivery to make it efficient.
Amazon uses cutting-edge engineering and computer science to get products to your door. Would you like to work with computers or robots? Here’s your chance to find out.
Activity:
- Gather writing and drawing tools.
- Start watching the video tour.
- Stop the video when the guide tells you to do an activity.
Stop 1: Get Organized
Amazon organizes both things and information to get people the items they order.
What do you organize? School assignments? Friends’ contact information? Work or sports schedules? College applications? What kind of data do you need to organize and how do you do it? Brainstorm different kinds of information YOU need to organize. If you like, draw a picture or map of your organization system.
The information in your life that you organize, and how you organize it, is a database! Maybe you use a computer or your phone, or maybe you use paper and pencil. Amazon uses a database in the cloud.
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 2: Get With the Program
Amazon’s computers and robots use algorithms to get things done.
An algorithm is a list of steps to complete a task. When it’s written in code, it’s a program that computers and robots can follow.
Write the steps you follow to get ready for a camping trip.
The steps you listed are an algorithm. Amazon uses algorithms to look at a customer’s address and choose the best Fulfillment Center (FC) to pick the item they ordered from. Hercules uses algorithms to move around the FC and to stow and retrieve items.
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 3: Get It Right
Amazon’s SLAM process includes quality control. That means it checks to make sure everything is correct in a package before it mails it to the customer.
Think about when you do your own quality control checks. Do you read over your homework before you turn it in? Do you taste foods as you’re cooking them? Do you check to see you have your uniform and equipment before a sporting event? Imagine that process. Make a diagram, if you like.
Making sure you’ve gotten things right is important to doing any job well. Amazon wants to do its job well. What jobs or tasks matter to you?
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 4: Bring It Home
The last step in getting customers their products is delivery.
Can you imagine a robot or a drone bringing a package to you? What other kind of delivery vehicle can you imagine? What features would it have to be efficient and earth friendly? Draw or imagine your new delivery vehicle.
Delivering packages to customers efficiently in a way that also protects the environment is an important task. Besides the vehicle, what other factors could improve the process?
Restart the video when you are done with the activity.
Stop 5: The Future of YOU
How do you see yourself in the future?
Amazon is using computers and robots in innovative ways. Can you see yourself doing the same thing? What would you like to do? Are you interested in coding computers or working with robots? Do you like solving problems or building things? Do you want to help businesses be environmentally friendly? There are lots of ways to explore different STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) careers.
Write down jobs or ideas you saw today that interest you. Brainstorm ways to learn more about them.
When you're done, fill out this quick survey and let us know what you thought of the tour.
What Now?
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? Check out the Think Like an Engineer Journey
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.
