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Implementing VEX 123 STEM Labs

STEM Labs are designed to be the online teacher’s manual for VEX 123. Like a printed teacher’s manual, the teacher-facing content of the STEM Labs provides all of the resources, materials, and information needed to be able to plan, teach, and assess with VEX 123. The Lab Image Slideshows are the student-facing companion to this material. For more detailed information about how to implement a STEM Lab in your classroom, see the Implementing VEX 123 STEM Labs article.

Goals and Standards

Goals

Students will apply

  • Using the “Drive until object” Coder card to make the 123 Robot drive until the Eye Sensor detects an object, such as Grandmother’s house or the Wolf.

Students will make meaning of

  • How to code a robot to solve a problem, such as driving until an object is detected.

Students will be skilled at

  • Waking the 123 Robot.
  • Connecting the 123 Robot to the Coder.
  • Inserting and removing Coder cards from the Coder.
  • Sequencing Coder cards in a project.
  • Connecting the Coder to the 123 Robot.
  • Using the “Drive until object” Coder card in a project.

Students will know

  • How the Eye Sensor on the 123 Robot can be used to detect objects.
  • That the “Drive until object” card works with the Eye Sensor to drive until the Eye Sensor detects an object, and then stops.
  • How to use the “Drive until object” in a project to have the 123 Robot drive until it detects an object.

Objective(s)

Objective

  1. Students will collaborate in groups to work toward a common goal.
  2. Students will identify that the Eye Sensor can detect objects in its field of view.
  3. Students will develop a coding project that uses the “Drive until object” Coder card to make the 123 Robot drive until the Eye Sensor detects an object.

Activity

  1. During Play Part 1, students will collaborate in their groups to test the "Drive until object" Coder card project. They will take turns placing the 123 Robot and starting the Coder each time. During Play Part 2, students will work together to choose a Coder card to expand their projects, and take turns testing it to "scare away" the Wolf.
  2. In the Mid-Play Break discussion, students will identify that the 123 Robot uses the Eye Sensor to detect Grandmother’s house in their projects. Students will also identify where the Eye Sensor is located on the 123 Robot.
  3. In Play Part 1, students will create and test projects using the “Drive until object” card to make the 123 Robot drive until it reaches Grandmother’s house. In Play Part 2, students will add Coder cards to these projects in the correct sequence, to make the 123 Robot drive until it detects the Wolf, then perform an action to scare it away.

Assessment

  1. In the Share section, students will share their projects and describe how they collaborated to decide on an additional Coder card, and why they thought that would successfully "scare away" the Wolf.
  2. In the Share section discussion, students will identify how the 123 Robot detected the Wolf in the Play Part 2 activity, and can write or draw what their Little Red Robot’s Eye Sensor saw during the Lab.
  3. During Share, students will share the projects they developed using the "Drive until object" Coder cards, and explain what the 123 Robot did when the Eye Sensor detected the Wolf.

Connections to Standards

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