Before You Begin

Essential Question: How can I use a robot to efficiently complete a task?

Unit Understandings:

• Algorithms are projects that include sequence, selection, and iteration and allow a robot to respond to its environment.
• Developing a strategy for a competition involves collaborative decision making and iteration.
• Successful collaboration involves jointly identifying problems, respectfully managing disagreements, and compromising to reach solutions the entire group supports.

Standards Alignment

View all standards alignment from CSTA, ISTE, Common Core, NGSS, and other standards bodies as well as descriptions of how and where each of these standards are met in this unit here.

Materials Needed (per group):

• VEX AIM Coding Robot
• One Stick Controller
• 3 orange barrels
• 3 blue barrels
• 2 sports balls
• AprilTag IDs 0, 1, 2, and 3
• AIM Field (4 tiles and 8 walls)
• VEXcode AIM
• Journal (per student)

A Note About the Capstone Competition

The culmination of the course is presented in a challenge competition, where students compete to solve the challenge in the fastest time possible - both with driving and coding. Students should have the time and opportunity to develop, practice, and iterate on their strategies for both the driver control and autonomous portions of the competition. Teacher notes are woven throughout the unit to give guidance and insight for organizing and facilitating the challenge. The organization of this unit is as follows: 

• The Introduction page provides an opportunity to build excitement for the competition by discussing initial strategies and reflecting on the learning that led students to this point. Teacher notes include additional discussion prompts.
• The Challenge page offers a phased process for brainstorming, planning, building, testing, and competing. Students will check in with you during each phase, and continue progressing through the phases as they iterate on the challenge to create projects for both Driver Control and Autonomous runs. Teacher notes guide your facilitation and offer insight into what to look for during check-ins.
• The Reflection page gives students a chance to reflect on the competition itself and, more broadly, on their learning throughout the entire course. Teacher notes guide the discussion and provide a link to generate certificates for course completion.

Suggested Time for this Unit: 5-15 Sessions 

The amount of time for the Capstone Challenge is highly variable, as you want to ensure that all groups get multiple opportunities to compete. View this article for several sample schedules that you can adapt to best fit your needs. 

After students have watched the video, come together for a whole-class discussion about the challenge. Use student answers to questions as a basis for discussion. Remind students that they are just in the beginning stages of strategy development, and that their strategies will evolve over the course of the challenge. 

Note that students will learn more about the details and the rules of the challenge on the next page of the Capstone. This video and discussion is meant to ignite and spark their ideas and curiosity, but not to be a completely comprehensive strategy session.

The Capstone is not only a classroom competition, but a celebration of the learning and progress students made throughout the course. Encourage and foster students' enthusiasm and motivation, and help them to channel that energy into a positive learning experience. To help students reflect on their learning as they prepare for the challenge, ask questions like: 

• How do you think your driving and coding plans will be similar? How will they differ? Why?
• What have you learned from the course that would help you accomplish these strategies?
• Would you have been able to complete the challenge earlier in the course? Why or why not?