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 correctly describe the flow of a project that uses multiple [If then] blocks inside of a [Forever] block.
How to describe why [If then] blocks are used with [Forever] blocks.

Students will make meaning of

How to use conditionals and loops together to use robotic decision making to control the project flow.
Why a [Forever] block would be used in a project.

Students will be skilled at

Using multiple [If then] blocks in a project to instruct the robot to complete different actions based on a condition.
Adding a [Forever] block to a project to continually check conditions.
Creating a project to make the Robot Arm sort objects based on color.

Students will know

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.
How you can have multiple [If then] blocks in a project to be able to check for multiple colors, and have multiple behaviors based on those colors.
That the [Forever] block is a C block that repeats the behaviors inside of it forever.
That a [Forever] block is needed to make the Robot Arm sort objects repeatedly.

Objective(s)

Objective

Students will identify and describe what an [If then] block is, and how to use it in a project to make the Robot Arm sort objects based on color.
Students will identify and describe what a [Forever] block is, and how it functions with the [If then] block.

Activity

In Play Part 1, students will use the [If then] block in their projects to make the Robot Arm sort a disk of one color. In the Mid-Play Break, students will look at each other’s code, and describe which color the Robot Arm will sort. In Play Part 2, they will apply this knowledge to code the Robot Arm to sort multiple colored disks.
In Play Part 1, students will troubleshoot their projects’ use of the [If then] block, by adding a [Forever] block. They will discuss how the [Forever] block continually checks the conditions of the [If then] block, and apply this knowledge to the coding in Play Part 2.

Assessment

During the Share discussion, students will explain how they used the [If then] blocks to create a pattern the robot could follow to make decisions about how to sort the colored disks.
During the Share discussion, students will explain how the use of the [Forever] block made their code more effective, and how it functioned to make the Robot Arm sort objects as intended.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

ISTE - (7) Innovative Designer - 7c: Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

How Standard is Achieved: During the Engage section, students will complete the Robotics Roles and Routines sheet, assigning themselves to various roles and distributing responsibilities for group work between group members. During the Play sections, group members will work as a team to code the Robot Arm to effectively sort objects based on color.

Additional Standards

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

CSTA 1B-AP-10: Create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals.

How Standard is Achieved: In the Play sections, students will be introduced to the concept and function of conditionals and loops, by using the [If then] block and the [Forever] block to create a project where the Robot Arm sorts disks based on color.

During the Engage section, students will complete the Robotics Roles and Routines sheet, assigning themselves to various roles and distributing responsibilities for group work between group members.

During the Play sections, group members will work as a team to code the Robot Arm to effectively sort objects based on color. color. During the Share discussion, students will talk about how these blocks worked together to create a functional project.

Additional Standards

Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

CSTA 1B-IC-20: Seek diverse perspectives for the purpose of improving computational artifacts.

How Standard is Achieved: Students brainstorm and plan the actions the robot needs to take in order to complete the task. They discuss their plan with other groups and share ideas on how to complete the activity. The teacher facilitates these discussions so students have guidance on how to seek those differing perspectives from other groups in order to improve their VEXcode GO projects.

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