Implementing VEX GO STEM Labs

STEM Labs are designed to be the online teacher’s manual for VEX GO. Like a printed teacher’s manual, the teacher-facing content of the STEM Labs provides all of the resources, materials, and information needed to be able to plan, teach, and assess with VEX GO. The Lab Image Slideshows are the student-facing companion to this material. For more detailed information about how to implement a STEM Lab in your classroom, see the Implementing VEX GO STEM Labs article.

Goals and Standards

Goals

Students will apply

How to identify the names and physical features of VEX GO pieces using spatial language.

Students will make meaning of

How to identify VEX GO pieces and their functions in order to use the materials safely and effectively in future builds.

Students will be skilled at

How to identify key pieces and recognize they can function in builds.
How to take care of the VEX GO Kit.

Students will know

How to identify VEX GO pieces.
How pieces will function in a build.
That a "build" is a student-created physical object designed and constructed for STEM investigations.

Objective(s)

Objective

Identify and name essential VEX GO Kit pieces.
Recognize the function of foundational pieces in the kit.
Demonstrate best practices in taking care of kits.

Activity

Students will draw and label key kit pieces: pin, standoff, connector, beam, plate, angle beam, wheel, gear, and pulley in Play Part 1.
Students will engage in direct instruction from the teacher on how pieces from the following categories work: connectors, beams, plates, wheels, and gears in Play Part 2.
Students will practice taking out pieces and choosing the proper place to return them in their kit throughout the lab.

Assessment

Student will label pieces correctly on a worksheet in Play Part 1.
Students will arrange pieces into functional categories: connection, structure, and movement in Play Part 2.
Students will put all pieces away and clean up their area according to teacher instructions at the conclusion of the lab.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.1: Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.

How Standard is Achieved: Students will engage in a discussion during the Mid-Play Break to identify key physical features of the VEX GO pieces. They will use spatial language to create size and shape comparisons between pieces from the kit while sharing their drawings of the different parts.

Additional Standards

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

ISTE - (4) Innovative Designer - 4d: Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.

How Standard is Achieved: Throughout the entire lab, students will be working with pieces from the VEX GO Kit that they may have not manipulated before. They will engage in exploring what these different pieces are, and their purpose in an open-ended drawing exercise.

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