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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 building a NASA Flagpole.

 1 per group

Lab 2 Image Slideshow

Google Doc / .pptx / .pdf

For teacher and student context and inspiration during the Lab.

 1 for teacher facilitation

Pencils

For students to document their design ideas and fill out the Robotics Roles & Routines worksheet.

 1 per student

Paper or Blueprint Worksheet

Google Doc / .docx / .pdf

Editable Google Doc for students to document their Flagpole design ideas.

 1 per student

Measuring Tool

For students to measure the height of their Flagpole.

 1 per group

Timer

To be used in the NASA Flagpole Challenge during Play Part 2.

 1 per class

Pin Tool

To help remove pins or pry beams apart.

 1 per group

Robotics Roles & Routines

Google Doc / .docx / .pdf

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

 1 per group

Engage

Begin the lab by engaging with the students.

  1. Hook

    What materials have you built with before? Sand for sandcastles? Blocks for towers? We are going to practice building with our VEX GO Kits.

    Build Demonstration Show students selected VEX GO pieces. Demonstrate how pieces snap together by assembling plates with pins, standoffs, then detach them with the Pin Tool.

    Introduce Student Build "Our first project is to build a flagpole for our Astronaut to place on the surface of Mars." Show an image of a flagpole on the Moon and an image of Mars to contextualize the student projects and for inspiration. (see images in Lab 2 Slideshow)

  2. Leading Question

    What are important features of a flagpole? (tall, stable and balanced/ freestanding). What if you have limited materials?

Play

Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.

Part 1

In the first build, groups will have 15 VEX GO pieces to build a NASA Flagpole for their Astronaut. Students will work in groups and have specific group roles: builder and journalist. Use the Robotics Roles & Routines worksheet to organize group work. Students will use the Blueprint Worksheet to sketch their initial design ideas for their flagpole. Students should discuss their ideas with their group before they begin building.

Mid-Play Break

Share projects and describe how their flagpole was built using part names and spatial language.

Part 2

The second build will be a "challenge" where groups compete to build the tallest flagpole. Each group will be given 10 additional pieces (total of 25), and they will modify their original design to build the tallest, freestanding flagpole with the provided pieces. All groups will work within the same material constraints, and have limited time to complete the challenge. Builds will be measured, and the tallest flagpole wins.

Share

Allow students to discuss and display their learning.

Discussion Prompts

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