Summary

Materials Needed

The following is a list of all the materials and teaching resources that are needed to complete the VEX 123 Lab. First listed are the materials needed for the entire Lab, including the 123 Robot. In certain Labs, links to teaching resources in a slideshow format have been included. Not all Labs will include a slideshow. These slides can help provide context and inspiration for your students. All slides are editable, and can be projected for students or used as a teacher resource.

Environment Setup

• Think about your classroom space. What will work best for an observation and discussion?  Is there a place where Circle Time or Morning Meeting is held?  This may work better than sitting at a desk, as the 123 Robots can be placed inside the circle for all to see at the same time.  
• Make sure the VEX 123 Poster is visible to all students. Refer to the poster when talking about the components and features. You may want to pass around some of the materials for students to handle after they are unboxed.
• Make the Features Chart. This can be an evolving class resource for housing component names and functions.  As students learn about the features of the 123 Robot, they can add to the chart. This can be placed in the Robot area of the classroom. 
• Create a class Wonder Board. A place for writing down student questions and ideas. This can be used for formative assessment and to document student learning. 

Engage

Begin the lab by engaging with the students.

1. Hook

   Guess what?!  We have a new member of our classroom today!  Would you like to see?  If I told you it was a robot, what would you imagine?

2. Demonstrate

   Our robots are a little different, let’s meet them!  Teacher engages in a demonstrative unboxing to show the 123 Robot.  (Teacher may facilitate a first impression conversation, if time allows.  What do you see?  What do you notice?  What do you wonder?)

3. Leading Question

   I have a story called  “Meet Your Robot.”  Are you ready to meet our robot?

Play

Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.

Part 1

Story based activity - Using the Meet Your Robot PDF story as a guide and a tool, read and interact with the story and components as instructed in the story. 

Mid-Play Break

What can the robot do that you can also do?  What is different?  How or why?  What makes this robot different from other devices you know and use?

Part 2

Look, Listen and See - Using the 123 Robot, the teacher points out a feature of the robot, and asks the children “What do you think this does?”.  Students describe in their own words, based on story and class discussions. Teacher tests the students’ hypotheses (push button) to see what the robot does (and if the description was accurate).

Share

Allow students to discuss and display their learning.

Active Share

Create a “Wonder Board” using the following prompts and display them in the classroom.

Discussion Prompts

• What is one thing you want to try to do with our 123 Robots?  
• What is one thing you wonder about our 123 Robots?