Summary
Materials Needed
The following is a list of all the materials that are needed to complete the VEX GO Lab. These materials include student facing materials as well as teacher facilitation materials. It is recommended that you assign two students to each VEX GO Kit.
In some Labs, links to teaching resources in a slideshow format have been included. These slides can help provide context and inspiration for your students. Teachers will be guided in how to implement the slides with suggestions throughout the lab. All slides are editable, and can be projected for students or used as a teacher resource. To edit the Google Slides, make a copy into your personal Drive and edit as needed.
Other editable documents have been included to assist in implementing the Labs in a small group format. Print the worksheets as is or copy and edit those documents to suit the needs of your classroom. Example Data Collection sheet setups have been included for certain experiments as well as the original blank copy. While they offer suggestions for setup, these documents are all editable to best suit your classroom and the needs of your students.
Materials | Purpose | Recommendation |
---|---|---|
VEX GO Kit |
For building the Code Robot Arm (2-Axis). |
1 per group |
For groups to use when coding their Code Robot Arm (2-Axis). |
1 per group | |
For students to create projects in VEXcode GO. |
1 per group | |
Lab 5 Image Slideshow Google Doc / .pptx / .pdf |
For visual aids while teaching. |
1 per class |
Pre-built Code Robot Arm (2-Axis) from Lab 4 |
For reference during Engage and Mid-Play Break sections. |
1 per class |
For building the Code Robot Arm (2-Axis). |
1 per group, or 1 displayed for class | |
Robotics Roles & Routines Google Doc / .docx / .pdf |
For organizing student roles within their groups. |
1 per group |
Paper |
For completing written portions of the Lab. |
1 per group |
Writing Utensils |
For completing written portions of the Lab. |
1 per student |
To help remove pins or pry beams apart. |
1 per group |
Engage
Begin the lab by engaging with the students.
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Hook
In Lab 4, we coded our Robot Arm to make a decision, and it got a little more intelligent. How can we make it more intelligent? Let’s think about how we clean things up. What do you think about to know where to put things? We are really checking conditions repeatedly, and our robots can do something like that. We use conditional statements to make the robot make more decisions based on information.
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Leading Question
Let’s make our Robot Arm even more intelligent!
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Build If you do not have the Code Robot Arm (2-Axis) already built, build it now. If it is already built, check that the battery is charged, firmware is up to date, and that port configuration matches the build instructions.
Play
Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.
Part 1
Students will code the Robot Arm to identify and move one colored disk to a specific place, based on the color.
Mid-Play Break
What did the Robot Arm do? Why did it do that? Break down the project flow with students using a series of questions.
Part 2
Students will then code the Robot Arm to identify and sort all three of the colored disks into specific places based on color.
Share
Allow students to discuss and display their learning.

Discussion Prompts
- What other objects do you think the Robot Arm could sort? How would you code that?
- What other things can a robot do when it can be coded to make a decision?
- How are human decision-making and robotic decision-making similar or different?
- Why do we need the [Forever] block in our projects?