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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

  • Using a [My Block] in a project to have the Code Base collect and sort multiple Disks. 
  • Using the [If then] block with the <Detects color> blocks in a project to have the Code Base sort a Disk based on its color.
  • Creating a project where the Code Base uses sensor data to make a decision, if the condition in an [If then] block reports as True or False.

Students will make meaning of

  • How to code the Code Base to solve a challenge, such as sorting a Disk to a specific location based on Eye Sensor data.
  • How using My Blocks makes it easier to build projects by reusing portions of code that repeat in a project. 

Students will be skilled at

  • Using build instructions to build the Code Base 2.0 - Eye + Electromagnet.
  • Connecting a Brain to a tablet or computer in VEXcode GO.
  • Saving and naming projects in VEXcode GO.
  • Adding VEXcode GO blocks to a project.
  • Sequencing blocks in a project.
  • Using Drivetrain blocks in a project to have the Code Base drive to a specific location.
  • Changing parameters in VEXcode blocks.
  • Starting and stopping a project in VEXcode GO.
  • Creating a project in VEXcode GO that uses the Eye Sensor and Electromagnet.
  • Creating a [My Block] in a project in VEXcode GO to reuse portions of code.

Students will know

  • How the Eye Sensor and Electromagnet on the Code Base can be used to carry Disks and sort them by color.
  • That the <Detects color> block is a reporter block that reports True when the Eye Sensor detects the selected color and False when it detects a different color.
  • That the [If then] block is a ‘C’ block that runs the blocks inside of it if the Boolean condition is reported to be True.
  • That My Blocks can be created using portions of code that are repeated in a project, to make the project easier to work with.

Objective(s)

Objective

  1. Students will develop a VEXcode GO project using My Blocks to reuse portions of code that repeat in the project, to make the Code Base move multiple Disks to different sorting areas based on their color.
  2. Students will identify that My Blocks can be used in a project to reuse a sequence of blocks that will be repeated in a project.
  3. Students will communicate behaviors, through words and gestures, that the Code Base will need to complete in order to accomplish a task.

Activity

  1. During Engage, students will be introduced to the concept of a My Block, by watching the My Blocks tutorial video in VEXcode GO together as a class. They will then build on what they learned in Lab 3, to create a [My Block] that will reuse the portion of code that sorts the Disks. During Play, students will create a project that uses the [My Block] to drive the Code Base to collect a Red, Green, and Blue Disk from different locations and deliver them to the correct sorting area based on their color.
  2. During Engage, students will revisit their VEXcode GO project from Lab 3, and identify the repeated pattern in their project. They will be introduced to the concept of using My Blocks to reuse this portion of code, and how they can make longer projects easier to work with. They will then build a [My Block] using the repeated sequence of code used to sort Disks by color, together as a class. In Play, students will work with their group to build a project using this [My Block], to code the Code Base to repeatedly sort Disks into the appropriate sorting areas based on color. In the Mid-Play Break, students will identify how the [My Block] is functioning in their project in a class discussion.
  3. Throughout the Lab, students will communicate with their class, and in their groups, how the Code Base will need to move, and the order of behaviors it will need to do, in order to successfully collect and sort the Disks to the desired locations. They will use spatial language and gestures to show and describe these sequences of behaviors.

Assessment

  1. During Play, students will test and iterate on their VEXcode GO projects, to drive the Code Base to collect a Red, Green, and Blue Disk from different locations, and use the [My Block] to sort them to the correct sorting area based on color. To complete the challenge successfully, students will need to build a project and sequence the [My Block] in the correct place, so that it sorts each Disk after it is collected from the Field. During the Mid-Play Break and Share, students will talk about how the [My Block] functions in their project, to help them successfully collect and sort multiple Disks to their sorting areas based on color.
  2. During the Mid-Play Break and Share discussions, students will identify how the [My Block] functions in their project to successfully sort the Disks. Students will discuss how using the [My Block] made their project easier to create, and how reusing the same sequences in this way makes it easier to code the robot to repeat the sorting process each time a Disk was collected. 
  3. In order to successfully collect Disks from different locations, students will need to communicate in their groups the direction and distances that the Code Base will need to travel from its starting location to reach the Disks. During the Mid-Play Break and Share discussions, students will describe how their Code Base moved and the order of behaviors it completed to successfully collect and sort multiple Disks.

Connections to Standards