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

Moving disks from one location to another using the Motorized Robot Arm.
Decomposing an action into smaller, discrete steps.
Writing step-by-step directions.

Students will make meaning of

What a motorized robotic arm is.
How adding motors can help to accomplish a task.

Students will be skilled at

Using the Motorized Robot Arm to pick up and move a disk.
Writing directions for the Motorized Robot Arm to complete a task.
How to add motorized components to a build.

Students will know

How to move the Motorized Robot Arm.
How to describe the steps needed to move the Motorized Robot Arm.

Objective(s)

Objective

Students will explain how to move a disk from one location to another using the Motorized Robot Arm.
Students will be able to analyze the importance and accuracy of step-by-step directions for the Motorized Robot Arm to complete a task.

Activity

In Play Part 1, students will write step-by-step directions to explain how to move the Motorized Robot Arm to pick up and move a disk to another location.
In the Mid-Play Break, students analyze their directions to determine if they believe the directions are simple to follow. In Play Part 2, students go on to analyze and determine the accuracy of another group’s directions.

Assessment

In Play Part 2, students will follow the directions from another group. As they identify the errors in the directions, students will troubleshoot the directions to best explain how to move a disk from one location to another using the Motorized Robot Arm.
In the Share section, students compare and contrast their directions written in Play Part 1 to the edited directions from Play Part 2. They will make conclusions about the importance of clear and accurate directions based on their experiences.

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: In Engage, students work in project groups to construct the Motorized Robot Arm. During Engage, students complete the Robot Roles and Routines Checklist to identify their various roles and follow those parameters to work effectively toward creating a functional build. In Play Part 1, students work together as a group to identify and write step-by-step directions for moving a disk from one location to another using the Motorized Robot Arm.

Additional Standards

Common Core State Standards (CCSS)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

How Standard is Achieved: In Play Part 1, students write a series of detailed step-by-step directions to explain and convey the process of moving a disk with the Motorized Robot Arm clearly and effectively.

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