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Part 1 - Step by Step

1. InstructInstruct students that they are going to participate in the Raise the Roof Competition with their Hero Robots. First, they will practice for the competition by driving the Hero Robot to remove the supplies from the Fire Station, raise the roof of the Emergency Shelter, and deliver the supplies to the orange square inside the shelter. View the video below to learn more about the driving and scoring for the Raise the Roof tasks. The end of the video shows an example of how a Hero Robot could be driven to accomplish the tasks.

   Note: You can choose how students interact with the video content. The video is embedded within the Lab 2 Image Slideshow to share easily with students. Or, you may choose to watch the video yourself and present the information to your students in class. 

2. ModelModel for students how to drive the Hero Robot to remove the supplies from the Fire Station, drive to the Emergency Shelter, raise the roof of the Shelter, and deliver the supplies inside the Shelter. The goal of this practice is for students to practice all three of the tasks they will use in the Raise the Roof Competition.
   • First, model for students how to launch VEXcode GO, connect their Brain to their device, and open the Drive tab.

   

   Note: When you first connect your robot to your device, the Gyro built into the Brain may calibrate, causing the robot to move on its own for a moment. This is an expected behavior, do not touch the robot while it's calibrating.

   • Next, model for students how to select the Motor option in Port 2, to control the arm motor on the Hero Robot.

     

      

   • Model for students how to change the Drive Mode by selecting the buttons – Tank Drive, Left Arcade, Right Arcade, or Split Arcade. View the video clip below to see the movement of the joysticks as each Drive Mode is selected. 

     Video file
     • For reference, the Drive Modes correspond to the following controls: 
       • Tank Drive: Each joystick controls a different motor.
       • Left Arcade: One joystick that controls both motors. The joystick is on the left-hand side of the screen.
       • Right Arcade: One joystick that controls both motors. The joystick is on the right-hand side of the screen.
       • Split Arcade: Two joysticks. One controls left and right movements and the other controls forward and reverse movements.
   • Model for students how to raise and lower the arm motor using the green and red arrows around Port 2.
     • Note: The arrows correspond to the direction the motor is spinning, not necessarily the up and down movements of the arm itself. 

   

   • Next, set the Hero Robot on the green starting Tile, and model how to drive the Hero Robot to remove the supplies from the Fire Station, drive to the Emergency Shelter, raise the roof of the Shelter, and deliver the supplies to the orange square inside the Shelter, as shown in the video in the Instruct step.

     

   • As students are practicing driving the Hero Robot to accomplish all three tasks, you can use the Raise the Roof Practice Activity (.docx / .pdf) to guide them through how to practice. 

     • If students finish the practice tasks early, and need an additional challenge, have them try one of the 'Level Up' extensions on the Raise the Roof Practice Activity.

       

3. FacilitateFacilitate turn taking and collaboration between and among teams as they are practicing driving their Hero Robots. As you circulate around the room, ask questions like:
   
   • How are you taking turns driving on your team, so everyone has a chance to practice both ways of scoring?
   • Which of the tasks is easiest for you? Why?
   • What is getting easier as you practice? What do you still need to work on?
   • What can you learn from each other's driving strategies that can help you be better drivers? 
   • What is one challenge that you are working together to solve in this activity? What problem solving strategies have you tried so far? What will you try next?

   You may want to have multiple areas for practice set up around the room. While there is only one Fire Station and one Emergency Shelter on the Field, you can offer students additional practice spaces by using boxes or classroom objects to simulate the removing the supplies from the Fire Station, raising the roof of the Shelter, and placing supplies inside the Shelter. Use this image of the supplies game object for reference.

   

    

   Facilitate conversations about scoring strategy as students are practicing. You may want to allow extra time for Play Part 1, to enable all students to have enough time to get comfortable with the competition tasks, so that they can begin to think about  strategy. In the Raise the Roof Competition, students try to get one point for each completed task as quickly as possible, so encourage teams to find ways of improving their times. You can also encourage teams to look at what others are doing around the room, so that they can learn from other teams' experiences as well.

   • What have you figured out through practice that has helped your team be successful? 
   • What helps you to remove the supplies, raise the roof and deliver the supplies more quickly?
   • Which task is easiest for you? Which tasks are more difficult? How do you think you can improve your time to complete the more difficult tasks?
4. RemindRemind students that pressing the arrows on the Drive tab longer or shorter will change the way the arm moves up and down. They can press it quickly to create smaller increments of motion, which may give them greater precision, when trying to remove and deliver the supplies.

   Remind students that the goal of this activity is to practice each of the three scoring tasks multiple times in order to do them more quickly and efficiently. Encourage students to try different ways to remove and deliver the supplies, and raise the Emergency Shelter roof, in order to determine which way works the fastest, so they can begin to develop a strategy for the competition.

5. AskAsk students about what kinds of supplies might be needed in an emergency situation, and why delivering supplies with a robot would be useful in a disaster situation.

Mid-Play Break & Group Discussion

As soon as every group has practiced removing the supplies from the Fire Station, raising the roof of the Emergency Shelter, and delivering the supplies inside the Shelter, come together for a brief conversation.

Now that students have practiced driving their Hero Robots to remove and deliver supplies, and raise the roof of the Shelter, talk about how teammates worked together to drive and complete the tasks.

• What was challenging for your team about removing and delivering the supplies? What was challenging for your team about raising the Emergency Shelter roof? How did you help each other through those challenges? 
• What is one thing that you learned through your team's practice that helped you to complete the tasks more quickly? 
• What is something you want to try, that you saw or heard another team do through their practice? Why?

Then, introduce the Raise the Roof Competition:

• The goal of the competition is to score a point for each of the three competition tasks in the shortest possible time.
• The three tasks are: remove the supplies from the Fire Station, raise the roof of the Emergency Shelter, and deliver the supplies to the orange square in the Shelter.
• Teams will apply what they learned in practice to help them score all three points in the fastest time possible in the competition! 

Talk about how teams can use what they learned in practice to help them develop a strategy for the competition. 

• What strategies allowed your team to remove and deliver the supplies more quickly?
• What strategies allowed your team to raise the Emergency Shelter roof more quickly?
• What mistakes did you make in practice that will allow you to improve your strategy for the Raise the Roof Competition?

Part 2 - Step by Step

1. InstructInstruct students that they are now going to participate in the Raise the Roof Competition! The goal of the competition is to complete all three competition tasks in the shortest possible time. The tasks are: remove the supplies from the Fire Station, raise the roof of the Emergency Shelter, and deliver the supplies to the orange square inside the Shelter. To win the competition, students will need to score all three points in the fastest time.
   

   Use the Raise the Roof Competition Activity (.docx / .pdf) as a guide for students as you engage in the competition.

   

2. ModelModel for students how they will participate in the competition matches, and how the competition will run in the classroom.
   

   To learn more about running a VEX GO Classroom Competition, see this article.

   Model how to setup the Hero Robot on the Field to begin the match.

   

   • Share with students the match order and expectations, so that they know what they should be doing during the competition before and after their turn to drive.
     • You can use this Match Order template to show teams the order in which they will be competing. You can also use this sheet as a way to keep track of the score after each match. Try to have enough matches so that each student gets a chance to drive the robot at least once.

   

   • Demonstrate for students how you will operate the timer, and what to look and listen for to know when to start driving their robots on the Field. 
     • Show students where they can be seated during the competition matches. If you have practice areas or other spaces students can be in during the competition, show them these areas as well, and explain how they are to be used.
     • Review expectations for how to be a respectful participant in the competition. Encourage students to cheer for one another, and to be excited about the competition – this is meant to be a fun classroom experience! Be sure that students are showing good sportsmanship before, during, and after each matches.
   • Model how a match is run. Start the timer (or have a student start it - you can use the timer on the VEX GO Leaderboard if desired), and drive the Hero Robot on the Field to remove the supplies from the Fire Station, raise the Roof on the Emergency Shelter and deliver the supplies to the orange square inside the Shelter as quickly as you can, stopping the timer immediately when the third task is completed. Each team's time will be recorded on the board.
     • If time allows, you may want to allow teams to play additional rounds of the competition, taking the best time scored as each team's final time. 
     • The team who completes all three of the competition tasks the fastest, wins.

   • Model how to reset the Field for the next match. The supplies should be placed back into the Fire Station, and the Emergency Shelter roof should be lowered as shown in the setup image above. Be sure that the Emergency Shelter roof is reset to its original position, as shown in the image below. 

     

   • Model for students how to plan a path together in their team, to begin their strategy discussions. You can use this image of the Field to help facilitate the discussion, and give students a place to trace their path away from the game Field itself.  

     

      

3. FacilitateFacilitate the classroom competition matches, and engage students in conversations about their driving and collaboration between matches. Use discussion prompts like:
   • Before the start of a match: 
     • Which team member will be driving? What is your strategy to complete the tasks as quickly as possible in this match? 
     • What is one thing you are going to try to do the same as your practice or a previous match? Why? 
     • What is one thing you are going to try to do differently than your practice or a previous match? Why? 
   • During a match: 
     • Watch how the driver is controlling the speed of the robot. What do you notice? 
     • Watch how the driver is removing the supplies from the Fire Station. What do you notice?
     • Watch how the driver is using the arm of the robot to raise the roof of the Shelter. What do you notice? 
     • Watch how the driver is placing the supplies onto the orange square. What do you notice?
   • After a match: 
     • What is something you learned from your driving that you will use in your next match? 
     • What is something you learned from watching another driver that can help you in your next match?
4. RemindRemind students that they can continue to develop their strategy between each of their matches. They may want to change their plan from one match to the next based on what they found while driving, or something they saw another team do. Remind teams that they should always be communicating strategy ideas with their teammates, so no matter who is driving in the match the whole team is clear on what the driver is trying to do in order to score.
   

   You may want to give students a way to take notes as they are watching the competition, using the Blueprint Worksheet (Google Doc / .docx / .pdf) or the Data Collection Sheet (Google Doc / .docx / .pdf) .This way they can have a tangible way to keep track of strategy ideas as they prepare for their next match. 

5. AskAsk students to think about how working with a teammate to develop a strategy for the competition can help them the next time they are on a team or playing a game. What have they learned about making decisions together with a team that can be applied to other areas of their lives? There are many times and places where being a good teammate can be applied - at home, school, or in their community.