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 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.

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.

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.

Objective(s)

Objective

Students will develop a VEXcode GO project using [If then] blocks and <Detects color> blocks together to make the Code Base move multiple Disks to different locations based on their color.
Students will identify that the Eye Sensor on the Code Base can be used with the Electromagnet to sort Disks based on their color.
Students will communicate behaviors, through words and gestures, that the Code Base will need to complete in order to accomplish a task.

Activity

During Engage, students will revisit their project from Lab 2, and use the Stepping feature to show the project flow of the [If then] and <Detects color> blocks in their project, as the Code Base sorts a Disk to a location, based on color. In the Play sections, students will build upon this project to add additional [If then] blocks, to use the Code Base to sort the Blue Disk and Green Disk to different areas based on their color.
During Engage, students will revisit their project from Lab 2, and use the Stepping feature to identify the places in the project where the robot is using the data from the Eye Sensor to make a decision, so that the Electromagnet can carry and drop the Disk in the specified location. During Play, students will build on their projects to sort multiple Disks to different sorting areas, using the Eye Sensor data and the Electromagnet on the Code Base together.
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

To successfully complete the challenge of collecting and sorting the Red, Blue, and Green Disks to their specific sorting areas, students will need to build a project using multiple [If then] blocks with <Detects color> blocks to make the Code Base sort multiple Disks based on color. During the Mid-Play Break and Share, students will talk about how the blocks in their project are working, and how they were able to use multiple [If then] blocks to sort different colored Disks successfully.
During the Mid-Play Break and Share conversations, students will identify how their project used the Eye Sensor and Electromagnet together, through the use of [If then] conditions, to successfully collect and sort Disks to different locations based on their colors.
During the Share discussion, students will accurately communicate the behaviors they coded their Code Base to do, using spatial and relational language and gestures to describe how they were able to use the Code Base to collect different Disks and use the Eye Sensor data to sort those Disks based on their colors.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

CSTA 1A-AP-10: Develop programs with sequences and simple loops, to express ideas or address a problem.

How Standard is Achieved: In Play Part 1, students will build on their VEXcode GO projects from Lab 2 to drive and collect a Blue Disk using the Electromagnet on the Code Base, then sort that Disk to a location based on its color. They will use an additional [If then] block with a <Detects color> block in their project, to have the robot use data from the Eye Sensor to move the Disk to the designated sorting area. In Play Part 2, students will iterate on their project to drive to collect the Green Disk and deliver it to a different location based on its color. They will need to sequence their projects and change parameters in order to deliver the Disks to different sorting locations successfully. During Share, they will discuss how they sequenced blocks in their project to accomplish the goal.

Showcase Standards

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

CSTA 1B-AP-11: Decompose (break down) problems into smaller, manageable subproblems to facilitate the program development process.

How Standard is Achieved: In Play Part 1, students will decompose the steps necessary to have the Code Base drive to a location, pick up a Blue Disk with the Electromagnet, make a decision based on the Eye Sensor data, and deliver the Disk to the blue sorting area, together with their teacher. In Play Part 2, students will apply this same process to break down the steps needed to collect the Green Disk and deliver it to a different sorting location based on its color, to build and iterate on their projects with their group. By the end of Play, students will have a project to collect and sort three Disks to three locations based on their color. During Share, they will discuss how they built their projects together, identifying the ways that they broke down the larger goal of collecting and sorting all three Disks into manageable subproblems to build their projects.

Showcase 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: In the Play sections, students will use spatial and relational language to describe how the Code Base will need to move, and use the Electromagnet and Eye Sensor, in order to collect the Blue and Green Disks and deliver them to the designated sorting areas. In Play Part 2, they will continue to discuss the intended movements of the Code Base, and the functioning of the Electromagnet and Eye Sensor, as they work to build a project that will collect and sort all three Disks to different locations based on their color with their groups. During Share, students will discuss the ways that their Code Base moved and used the Eye Sensor and Electromagnet to sort the Disks successfully, with spatial and relational language, as they share their projects.

< Return to Labs Next >