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

How to create a solution to an authentic problem by adding the extension arm to the Code Base robot.

Students will make meaning of

How iteration leads to better designs.

Students will be skilled at

Coding the Code Base robot.
Using the Engineering Design Process.
Problem solving skills.

Students will know

How to code their Code Base robot.
How to add the extension arm to Code Base robot.
How to fail and persevere.

Objective(s)

Objective

Students will decompose a complex problem into smaller parts in order to solve a design problem.
Students will create a project for their Code Base robot and extension arm.
Students will demonstrate problem solving skills.

Activity

In Play Part 1, students will break down the problem, step-by-step, and plan their solution of how to code the Code Base robot and extension arm.
In Play Part 2, students develop a project using their pseudocode from Play Part 1 to code their Code Base robot and extension arm to use a sequence of basic movements to drive in a square.
In Engage, students will demonstrate their problem solving skills by using the Engineering Design Process Organizer to plan and test attaching the extension arm to the Code Base robot. In Play Part 2, students will use the Data Collection Sheet to highlight each trial when coding and future improvements the groups have made.

Assessment

Students will decompose each step and write their problem solving strategies in pseudocode.
Students will create and test their project in Play Part 2.
Throughout the lab, students will complete the EDP Organizer and Data Collection Sheet to show how they planned and designed their project successfully.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

CSTA 1A-AP-12: Develop plans that describe a program’s sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.

How Standard is Achieved: In Play Part 1, students are writing and describing their pseudocode and ideas to code their Code Base robot and extension arm.

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 are breaking down their project into smaller parts writing it step-by-step for the Code Base robot to move in a square using basic movements in a sequence.

Showcase Standards

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.1: Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.

How Standard is Achieved: In Play Part 1, students will describe how the Code Base robot will move using spatial language in their pseudocode. In the Mid-Play Break, students will explain how their pseudocode will work, therefore translating the written instructions into a mental representation of the actions. In Play Part 2, students will use directional language to identify which commands they will use to make the Code Base robot move in a desired way.

Additional Standards

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

ISTE - (5) Computational Thinker - 5c: Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.

How Standard is Achieved: In the Play sections, students will break down the necessary movements for the Code Base to drive in a square into discrete steps, and write these steps as pseudocode. They will then convert each line of pseudocode into comments to plan and organize for a VEXcode GO project that drives the Code Base in a square.

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