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 data can be gathered, read, and used to predict results and make estimations.

Students will make meaning of

Predicting an object’s continued motion, change in motion, or stability.
Using the same data in both a predictive and reflective way, to understand how things work.

Students will be skilled at

Recording data accurately.
Making predictions based off of data.

Students will know

What the turning the knob of the car does and how it affects the distance traveled by the car.
How students can use the gathered data of number of turns and distance traveled to make predictions.

Objective(s)

Objective

Predict car performance based on data from previous experiments.
Identify that increased force caused by the turn of the knob of the rubber band, causes the Super Car to travel further.
Apply spatial concepts when conducting the Super Car build, during experiment trials and in class discussions.

Activity

Students will experiment with the effects of more or less turns on the distance travelled by their Super Car in 5 trials. They will document their predictions and results on a Data Collection Sheet.
Students will analyze data collected in several experiments, to identify that turns increase force, which then affects distance.
Communicate build instructions and experiments using spatial language.

Assessment

Students will compete in distance contests to see if they can use their data to accurately predict a winner. Groups will share the data collected on their Data Collection Sheet.
Students will be able to describe how the turn of the knob on the rubber band increases force, and how their experiments informed this conclusion in class discussions.
Students will demonstrate their understanding by using spatial language when communicating build instructions and experiment results.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

NGSS 3-PS2-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

How Standard is Achieved: Students will conduct an investigation during Play Part 1 to measure the distances their Super Car travels when the knob is turned different amounts. Students will analyze how the force from the rubber band affects the motion of the car.

Showcase Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

NGSS 3-PS2-2: Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

How Standard is Achieved: Students will first relate their experiences to making predictions by recalling past experiences of them shooting a ball into a basketball hoop in the Engage section. Students will also engage in predictions during the Mid Play Break by observing patterns in the data collected from Play Part 1. In Play Part 2, students will compete in distance contests to see if they can use their data to accurately predict a winner.

Additional Standards

International Society for Technical 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: Throughout the Lab, students will investigate how specific component parts of the Super Car build will impact the distance that the car will travel. Students will break down the complex system of the Super Car’s build in the Engage section to note how the force is being transferred from the rubber band to the car’s wheel. In the Play section, the students will engage in problem-solving by analyzing their data from Play Part 1 to predict a winner for the Distance Contest in Play Part 2.

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