Overview

Grades

3+ (Ages 8+)

Time

40 minutes per lab

Unit Essential Question(s)

How do I solve a challenge with the Code Base and VEXcode GO?

Unit Understandings

The following concepts will be covered throughout this Unit:

How to use sensors in VEXcode GO.
How to create a plan that correctly orders behaviors in a sequence to solve a challenge. This can be done both individually and collaboratively.
How to communicate behaviors, through words and gestures, that the Code Base will need to execute in order to accomplish a task.
Why a loop is used in the Landing Challenge project, and the flow of a project that contains a loop.

Lab Summary

Click on the following tabs for a summary of what the students will do and learn in each lab.

Lab 1 - Detect Obstacles

Main Focus Question: How can I use the Eye Sensor to detect an obstacle on the Mars landing area?

Students will pretend that the Code Base is a rover that is tasked with detecting obstacles in the Mars landing area (a GO Field) so these obstacles can be removed.
Students will be introduced to the Eye Sensor on the front of the Code Base, and observe how the Eye Sensor can be used to detect objects.
Students will then build and test a project, using the [Wait until] block, to drive the Code Base until the Eye Sensor detects an object, then stop, and glow a color, so they can remove the obstacle from the landing area.

Lab 2 - Clear the Landing Area

Main Focus Question: How can I code the Code Base to detect all the obstacles on the Mars landing area?

In this Lab, students will be challenged with creating a VEXcode GO project that has the Code Base examine the entire Mars landing area (the GO Field) to make sure it is clear of obstacles before the next Mars rover can land.
Students will be introduced to loops in VEXcode GO, and observe how those blocks make the Code Base repeat the commands within the “C” blocks. Students will see how this loop can be used with sensor feedback to have the Code Base detect multiple obstacles on the Field.
In the Play sections, students will complete an open-ended challenge to build and test a project that has the Code Base drive to, and detect, all the obstacles on the Field, even if the obstacle placements change.

Unit Standards

Unit Standards will be addressed in every Lab within the Unit.

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 Lab 1, students will build a VEXcode GO project to drive the Code Base until the Eye Sensor detects an object. They will need to sequence the project so that the Code Base drives forward, waits until the Eye Sensor detects an object, then stops driving, to show that the Eye Sensor has detected something. Then the students will remove the obstacle from the landing area.

In Lab 2, students will build a VEXcode GO project that has the Code Base examine the entire landing area (a GO Field) to make sure it is clear of obstacles, so that the Mars rover can land. Students will create a project that uses the Eye Sensor with a loop to have the Code Base drive to and detect all objects on the landing area, even if the location of the objects change.

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 Lab 1, students will describe the movement of the Code Base using spatial language and cause and effect relationships, as they learn about using the Eye Sensor on the Code Base in a project, and build their VEXcode GO projects. After testing the project, students will recount how the Code Base moved in relation to the “obstacle” on the Mars landing area (a GO Field).

In Lab 2, students will create a VEXcode GO project where the Code Base drives until it detects all the obstacles on the Mars landing area. As they build their projects, students will use spatial language and gestures, and cause and effect relationships, to describe how they want the Code Base to move and turn on the Field in relation to the obstacles.

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