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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 students to build the Day and Night model. 1 per group

Lab 1 Image Slideshow Google / .pptx / .pdf

For teacher and student context and inspiration during the Lab 1 for teacher demonstration

Day/Night with Switch Build Instructions (3D) or Day/Night with Switch Build Instructions (PDF)

 For students to build the Day/Night with Switch build. 1 per group

Approximately 3 inch (about 7.5 cm) diameter balls

 To model the Earth on the Day/Night with Switch build. 1 per group

Sticker or marker

 For marking the location of the students on the model Earth 1 per group

Robotics Roles & Routines Google / .docx / .pdf

Editable Google Doc for organizing group work and best practices for using the VEX GO Kit. 1 per group

Blueprint Worksheet Google / .docx / .pdf

For students to record their observations of the Day/Night with Switch build during the Play section. 1 per group

Pencils

 For students to fill out the Robotics Roles & Routines and Blueprint worksheets. 1 per group

Pin Tool

 To help remove pins or pry beams apart. 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.

  1. Hook

    Ask the students, "What do you know about day and night? What causes us to see day and night?" Ask students to share their observations about the Sun in the sky and how it relates to day and night.

    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. 

  2. Leading Question

    What do you think causes the pattern of day and night that we experience?

  3. Build Day/Night with Switch

Play

Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.

Part 1

Students will add a dot to the Earth on their Day/Night with Switch build to represent themselves on the face of the Earth. They will predict how they will move once the Switch is turned on in the '+' direction. Students will observe the movement of the Earth and how their dot rotated with the Earth.

Mid-Play Break

Students will share their observations. They will be asked questions like, "What do you notice about the Sun? Is it moving? Or is the Earth moving?" They will use their observations to make the connection that the Earth is rotating around its axis.

Part 2

Students will use the Switch to rotate the Earth so the dot the students added is facing away from the Sun. They will predict whether it is day or night for them based on the location of the dot and record their predictions.

Share

Allow students to discuss and display their learning.

Discussion Prompts

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