Summary
Materials Needed
The following is a list of all the materials that are needed to complete the VEX GO Lab. These materials include student facing materials as well as teacher facilitation materials. It is recommended that you assign two students to each VEX GO Kit.
In some Labs, links to teaching resources in a slideshow format have been included. These slides can help provide context and inspiration for your students. Teachers will be guided in how to implement the slides with suggestions throughout the lab. All slides are editable, and can be projected for students or used as a teacher resource. To edit the Google Slides, make a copy into your personal Drive and edit as needed.
Other editable documents have been included to assist in implementing the Labs in a small group format. Print the worksheets as is or copy and edit those documents to suit the needs of your classroom. Example Data Collection sheet setups have been included for certain experiments as well as the original blank copy. While they offer suggestions for setup, these documents are all editable to best suit your classroom and the needs of your students.
| Materials | Purpose | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
|
VEX GO Kit |
For building the Battle Boats. |
1 per group |
|
For building the Battle Boats. |
1 per group | |
|
To use with the Build Instructions to make the Battle Boats board. |
1 per group | |
|
For teachers and students to reference throughout the Lab. |
1 per group | |
|
Visual aids for teacher facilitation. |
1 per group | |
|
To help take VEX GO pieces apart during the building process. |
1 per group | |
|
Pencil |
To fill out the Robotics Roles and Routines Sheet. |
1 per group |
|
For recording hits and misses while playing the Battle Boats game. |
1 per group | |
|
Get Ready...Get VEX...GO! PDF Book (optional) |
To read with students to introduce them to VEX GO through a story and introductory build. | 1 for demonstration purposes |
|
Get Ready...Get VEX...GO! Teacher's Guide (optional) Google / .pptx / .pdf |
For additional prompts when introducing students to VEX GO with the PDF Book. | 1 for teacher use |
Engage
Begin the lab by engaging with the students.
-
Hook
Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt? Did you use a map? How were you able to read the map? For many treasure hunters, maps help them locate areas that could have the treasure. Maps have lines on the x and y axis. Let’s draw one and now I’m going to put numbers at the top and letters at the side of the map.
Note: If students are new to VEX GO, use the Get Ready...Get VEX...GO! PDF book and Teacher’s Guide (Google / .pptx / .pdf) to introduce them to learning and building with VEX GO. Add an additional 10-15 minutes to your lesson time to accommodate this additional activity.
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Leading Question
How can we plot points on a coordinate plane?
-
Build
Battle Boats
Play
Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.
Part 1
Each group will work together to plot points and solve where the other group’s boats are placed on their coordinate plane. Using the VEX GO Battle Boats build, partners will pair with another group to play one practice game. For each plotted point, the other group will help give tips and hints to point the other group in the right direction.
Mid-Play Break
Students will discuss successes and challenges of their first games and relate them to the coordinate plane.
Part 2
Working with the same pair, now both groups will use the scoring sheet to keep track of how many hits and misses they get during the game. Groups will play multiple rounds if possible.
Share
Allow students to discuss and display their learning.
Discussion Prompts
- How did your group’s strategy work for the Battle Boats game?
- What challenges did you come across while plotting points on a coordinate plane?
- What successes or strategies did you learn while plotting points on a coordinate plane?