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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 spaceship.

 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

Lab 4 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 Engineering Design Process and fill out the Robotics Roles & Routines worksheet.

 1 per student

Paper or Blueprint Worksheet

Google Doc / .docx / .pdf

For students to design their spaceship.

 1 per student

Engineering Design Process Organizer

Google Doc / .docx / .pdf

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

 1 per student

Pin Tool

To help remove pins or pry beams apart.

 1 per group

Engage

Begin the lab by engaging with the students.

  1. Hook

    Ask the students if they have ever been inside of a car. Have them describe their surroundings using spatial language. For example, "the window is above me, the door is to the left of me…"

    Show students an image of a spaceship in the Lab 4 Slideshow and ask them to imagine they are in a spaceship and to describe their surroundings.

  2. Leading Question

    What are some important features of a spaceship?

  3. Build A spaceship for the Astronaut using connectors and a Slide Beam.

Play

Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.

Part 1

Students will design and then build a spaceship for the Astronaut. The only constraint is that the spaceship must leave the Astronaut exposed, much like a motorcycle or a convertible car. Students will be documenting their design process on the Engineering Design Process Organizer and sketching and labeling their designs on their Blueprint Worksheet.

Mid-Play Break

Discuss the students’ designs from Play Part 1. Ask them how their designs could have been made stronger by enclosing the Astronaut. Encourage students to use spatial vocabulary when explaining.

Part 2

After students have discussed their designs and future ideas with the class, students will redesign their spaceships to fully enclose the Astronaut using the Engineering Design Process Organizers from Play Part 1.

Share

Allow students to discuss and display their learning.

Discussion Prompts

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