Engage

Launch the Engage Section

ACTS is what the teacher will do and ASKS is how the teacher will facilitate.

ACTS	ASKS
Show students the Food Processor tile from the Stage 4 Field, or the image of the Food Processor on the Field in the Image Slideshow (Google Doc/.pptx/.pdf), to help prompt ideas. Point out how the Food Processor has a basket that the Crop fits in. Have students share their ideas about how they think the Crops can be delivered to the Food Processor. You can use the image of the Crops on the Field (Google Doc/.pptx/.pdf), or the game elements themselves for reference. Guide students to compare and contrast the crops to the house components in Lab 1. Guide students to notice how the Food Processor can produce Food using the Robot or hand. You can use the image of the Stage 4 Field in the Image Slideshow (Google Doc/.pptx/.pdf) to help students recall what else is on the Field. Show students the physical Food Processor and how it moves back and forth to produce the Food game object. Note student responses on the board. You may want to leave them visible to reference throughout the Lab. Have students brainstorm ideas for how to move the Crop and Food in the least amount of time using the Hero Robot. You may want to have a robot, Food Processor, Crop and Food available for visual aids, as students share ideas about how to accomplish the competition tasks.	The new element on the Field for this Lab has Crops that need to be lifted and delivered to the Food Processor. How do you think you can put the Crop into the Food Processor? What do you notice about moving the Crops to the Food Processor compared to moving other game objects in Village Engineering Construction Lab so far? How do you think you'll be able to process the Food in the Food Processor? What do you notice about how the Food Processor moves? What is something you remember about how your team worked together in the last Lab, that could help you be successful in this one? How do you think you will need to drive your Hero Robot to score points in this competition?

ACTS

ASKS

Show students the Food Processor tile from the Stage 4 Field, or the image of the Food Processor on the Field in the Image Slideshow (Google Doc/.pptx/.pdf), to help prompt ideas. Point out how the Food Processor has a basket that the Crop fits in.
Have students share their ideas about how they think the Crops can be delivered to the Food Processor. You can use the image of the Crops on the Field (Google Doc/.pptx/.pdf), or the game elements themselves for reference. Guide students to compare and contrast the crops to the house components in Lab 1.
Guide students to notice how the Food Processor can produce Food using the Robot or hand. You can use the image of the Stage 4 Field in the Image Slideshow (Google Doc/.pptx/.pdf) to help students recall what else is on the Field. Show students the physical Food Processor and how it moves back and forth to produce the Food game object.
Note student responses on the board. You may want to leave them visible to reference throughout the Lab.
Have students brainstorm ideas for how to move the Crop and Food in the least amount of time using the Hero Robot. You may want to have a robot, Food Processor, Crop and Food available for visual aids, as students share ideas about how to accomplish the competition tasks.

The new element on the Field for this Lab has Crops that need to be lifted and delivered to the Food Processor. How do you think you can put the Crop into the Food Processor?
What do you notice about moving the Crops to the Food Processor compared to moving other game objects in Village Engineering Construction Lab so far?
How do you think you'll be able to process the Food in the Food Processor? What do you notice about how the Food Processor moves?
What is something you remember about how your team worked together in the last Lab, that could help you be successful in this one?
How do you think you will need to drive your Hero Robot to score points in this competition?

Getting the Students Ready to Build

Before we can drive our Hero Robots to deliver the Crops and produce the Food, we first need to build our competition Hero Robot.

Note: If you have already built your Competition Advanced 2.0 Hero Robots, you can skip this section.

Facilitate the Build

InstructInstruct students to join their group, and have them complete the Robotics Roles & Routines sheet. Use the Suggested Role Responsibilities slide in the Lab 4 Image Slideshow as a guide for students to complete this sheet.
Instruct students that the competition Hero Robot is built in two stages. First, they will build the Competition Base 2.0, then they will add onto that to build the Competition Advanced 2.0 Hero Robot.
DistributeDistribute build instructions for the Competition Base 2.0 to each team. Journalists should gather the materials on the checklist for the Competition Base 2.0 to begin.

Competition Base 2.0

As students complete the Competition Base 2.0, have them check in with you. Then, distribute build instructions for the Competition Advanced 2.0 Hero Robot. Students will add onto the Competition Base 2.0 to build the Competition Advanced 2.0 Hero Robot. Journalists should gather the materials on the checklist.

Competition Advanced 2.0 Hero Robot
FacilitateFacilitate the building process.
- Builders and Journalists should begin building based on their responsibilities in the Lab 4 Image Slideshow.
- Depending on the amount of time you have, you may want to have students build the Competition Base 2.0, then stop, and resume building during the next class time.
- Circulate around the room to help students with building or reading instructions where needed. Remind students that they can orient the pieces they are holding and building with the same way they are shown in the build instructions, in order to help them be successful in their build.
- Engage students' prior knowledge by asking questions about how this build is similar or different to other VEX GO builds that they have used before, like the Code Base. Why do they think that is? What might the competition robot be able to do that is new or different?
OfferOffer positive reinforcement for teams that are working well together, taking turns, and using respectful language as they are building. If there are particular teams or students that excel at building, offer them the opportunity to help teams that may be struggling with the build.

Teacher Troubleshooting

Students can test that their Competition Base 2.0 is built correctly before moving on to the Competition Advanced portion of the build. Have them power on the Brain, connect to VEXcode GO and open the Drive tab. Use the joysticks to move the robot forward or backward. If the robot is built correctly, it should drive successfully when it is connected to VEXcode GO.
Remind students that forward/reverse is based on the location and position of the robot. If the Hero Robot is backwards on the Field with the fork facing the student, moving the controls forward will drive the robot towards the student, not towards the Field.
If the robot does not respond, try disconnecting and reconnecting the Brain and try again. This may happen if too much time passes between turns driving the robot.

Facilitation Strategies

Allow extra time in the Engage section if you choose to have students build Stage 4 of Village Engineering Construction together with you. This stage builds the Lab to add to the Field. All elements from Stage 1 stay intact, and are part of this stage as well. To help students stay organized, divide up build instructions by team. Suggestions for how to do this include:
- Team A completes steps 1-6 of the Farm build instructions
- Team A completes step 1 of the Food build instructions
- Team B completes steps 1-5 of the Small Crop build instructions
- Team B completes steps 1-5 of the Large Crop build instructions
- Team C completes steps 1-8 of the Small Crop build instructions
- Team D completes steps 1-9 of the Food Processor build instructions
- Team E completes steps 10-19 of the Food Processor build instructions
- Team F completes steps 20-30 of the Food Processor build instructions
- Team G completes steps 31-43 of the Food Processor build instructions
- Team H attaches the tiles and walls together.
Allow time during Play Part 1 for all students to take a turn driving the Hero Robot on the Field. Remind students that they can change the controls to find a Drive Mode that works best for them.
- You may want to have students practice pressing down on the Food Processor with their Robot and also their hand. Students will have the choice to use their robot or their hand to produce the Food in the Food Processor. This is something students may want to consider as they practice and start thinking of their game strategy.
You may want to allow extra time and VEX GO Kit pieces for students to design and build an iteration of the arm or claw on the Hero Robot, to help them manipulate the Crops more easily. You can use the Engineering Design Process Organizer (Google Doc/.docx/.pdf) to help students document the problem they are trying to solve, their design idea, and how successfully it accomplished their goal.
- To help students stay focused and organized, you may want to have them check in with you to share their design ideas before they begin building. This way, you can help them evaluate the feasibility of the iteration in the time and constraints of your setting. Ask questions like:
  - How will this change help your robot move the Crops more easily? What problem are you having now that this iteration will solve?
  - How much time do you think this will take you to build? Can you build it in the time we have in class?
  - How will you test your iteration to know if it is successful? What will you look for in your next practice drive to know if it is working?
- You can offer constraints like the number of pieces, or the area of the robot that they can adapt, to help students focus on a small and specific iteration, rather than trying to redesign the entire arm.
The speed of the Hero Robot depends on how slow or quickly the controls are moved in the Drive tab. The slower the joystick is pushed, the slower the robot will move. For more information about remote control driving in VEXcode GO, read the Using the Drive Tab in VEXcode GO article.
Think ahead about how you want to structure the Farm to Table competition. It is recommended for each team to have at least two matches to compete in, so that as many students as possible get to have the chance to be a driver in the competition. To learn more about running VEX GO classroom competitions, see this article.
Encourage students to document their learning by drawing or writing about their robot, driving practice, and competition strategy. Use the Blueprint Worksheet (Google Doc/.docx/.pdf) or the Data Collection Sheet (Google Doc/.docx/.pdf) as a basic template for students to take notes. These artifacts can then be used to share student learning and progress with others in the classroom and school community on a bulletin board or student portfolio.

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