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 test and improve a build according to design problem criteria and constraints.

Students will make meaning of

How to design and build a Mars base that meets design criteria and within design constraints using pieces from the VEX GO Kit.

Students will be skilled at

Designing and building a structure that is stable using the VEX GO Kit.
Describing and using different pieces from the kit.

Students will know

How to identify and use the various pieces in the VEX GO Kit.

Objective(s)

Objective

Utilize varying pieces from the VEX GO Kit together in the same build.
Iterate a build design to meet specified criteria and constraints.

Activity

In Play Part 1, design and sketch a base for Mars using available VEX GO Kit materials.
Design, build, test, redesign, then modify their Mars bases from the first iteration to improve stability and increase size.

Assessment

In Play Part 1, construct a Mars Base build that includes various VEX GO Kit pieces.
In Play Part 2, build a second iteration of a Mars base that meets the design criteria: it is freestanding, balanced, and allows for movement of the Astronaut.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

NGSS 3-5-ETS1-1: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

How Standard is Achieved: Students will be asked in Play Part 1 to design and build a Mars base that meets the specific criteria that the base is enclosed and stable for the Astronaut’s safety. Materials for the builds will be limited to the pieces available in the VEX GO Kit as a constraint for the students.

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: While presenting their first iteration of the Mars base in the Mid-Play Break, students will be encouraged to use this spatial language to explain their design strategy, orientation of pieces, and building methods. Other groups will provide feedback also using spatial language.

Additional Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

NGSS 3-5-ETS1-2: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

How Standard is Achieved: Students will be asked to design and build their first Mars base design during Play Part 1. The solution they come up with during Play Part 1 will be shared with other students during the Mid-Play Break. Students will compare builds with one another to see how well each group met the criteria and constraints.

Additional Standards

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.6: Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.

How Standard is Achieved: While presenting the first design of their Mars base in the Mid-Play Break, students will be asked how their base meets the criteria that the Astronaut is enclosed and that the build is stable. Students will then use spatial language that emphasizes how the base encloses the Astronaut and how they combined parts to create this three-dimensional structure.

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