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Elementary Capstone⏱ 1–2 hours
Build a Sorting Machine
Design a machine that sorts objects by a rule — and watch it “learn.”
Your mission
Build a pretend sorting machine from craft materials and teach it a pattern, like the ML Pattern Finder lab — but with real objects you can hold.
What you'll need
- Cardboard, paper, and tape
- Objects with different colours, sizes, or shapes
- Sticky notes for labels
Your step-by-step plan
Design the machine
Build two labelled chutes or bins from cardboard — one for each group.
Choose the pattern
Decide the hidden rule the machine sorts by, like “big” versus “small.”
Train with examples
Sort eight objects yourself and write the rule the machine “learned” on a sticky note.
Run the test
Have someone hand you new objects, and sort them using only the written rule.
Make it yours
- Make the machine sort by two rules at once.
- Trick the machine with an object that fits neither group.
How you'll know you succeeded
- The machine has labelled groups and a written rule.
- It was tested on new objects.
- You explained one mistake it could make.