Before You Begin
Essential Question: How does the order of steps affect how a task is completed?
Unit Understandings:
- Sequencing instructions to achieve a goal is an essential part of coding.
- Breaking down a project into smaller steps makes it easier to code.
- Collaborating and discussing ideas when coding helps us develop stronger solutions than working alone.
Standards Alignment
Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)
- 1B-CS-02: Model how computer hardware and software work together as a system to accomplish tasks.
- 1B-DA-07: Use data to highlight or propose cause-and-effect relationships, predict outcomes, or communicate an idea.
- 1B-AP-11: Decompose (break down) problems into smaller, manageable subproblems to facilitate the program development process.
- 2-AP-15: Seek and incorporate feedback from team members and users to refine a solution that meets user needs.
- 3A-AP-22: Design and develop computational artifacts working in team roles using collaborative tools.
Materials Needed (per group):
- VEX AIM Coding Robot
- One Stick Controller
- 2 orange barrels
- 2 blue barrels
- AprilTag IDs 0 and 1
- AIM Field (4 tiles and 8 walls)
For more information about Button Coding on the VEX AIM Coding Robot, see this VEX Library article.
Suggested Time for this Unit: 6-7 Sessions
While pacing will vary classroom to classroom, suggested timing can help you plan effectively. A ‘session’ is considered approximately 45-50 minutes. You know your students best, so adjust timing as needed to best meet the needs of your students in your setting.
- Introduction: 1 session
- Lesson 1: 1 session
- Lesson 2: 1 session
- Lesson 3: 1 session
- Unit Challenge: 2-3 sessions
In this unit, you’ll learn how to move the VEX AIM Coding Robot without using Drive mode! Instead, you’ll use Button Coding on the robot’s screen to make it move, pick up barrels, and place them where they belong. You’ll also practice breaking tasks into smaller steps to make coding easier. By the end of the unit, you will take on the unit challenge—coding the robot to pick up and deliver blue and orange barrels to their correct spots.
Watch the video below to see the robot:
- Moves two barrels to an AprilTag on the left side of the field.
- Moves two barrels to an AprilTag on the right side of the field.
After watching the video, you will have a class discussion about it. Record your answers to the following questions in your journal, to help frame your thoughts in preparation for the discussion:
- How do you think the robot knows what to do without using the Drive mode? How is it able to pick up and place the barrels?
- What do you see in the video that makes you think this?
- How does the order of the actions of the robot impact how the robot completes the challenge?
- What questions do you have about using Button Coding to code the robot?
- What skills and understandings will you need to develop to complete the challenge?
After watching the video, you will have a class discussion about it. Record your answers to the following questions in your journal, to help frame your thoughts in preparation for the discussion:
- How do you think the robot knows what to do without using the Drive mode? How is it able to pick up and place the barrels?
- What do you see in the video that makes you think this?
- How does the order of the actions of the robot impact how the robot completes the challenge?
- What questions do you have about using Button Coding to code the robot?
- What skills and understandings will you need to develop to complete the challenge?
After students have watched the video, facilitate a whole class discussion to elicit students' observations and prepare them for co-creating learning targets for the unit.
- Ask students to share their observations, claims, and evidence based on the video, modeling scientific curiosity and openness.
- Remind students to draw on what they learned in the previous unit about how the robot interacts with objects on the field, and how the magnet in the front of the robot functions to move barrels or sports balls.
- As students share their questions and ideas, help students frame their wonderings as productive scientific questions.
- Guide students to consider the skills and understandings they might need to complete the challenge, as they will use these as they co-create learning targets.
Next, help students to make a real-world connection to the content in this unit and to engage prior knowledge using the following prompt:
- What are some examples of automation you see in everyday life? What jobs were these machines doing? How do you think they make work easier? Examples may vary based on students' relevant experience, and may include:
- In a city, they might recognize automated subway trains or self-checkout machines.
- In a manufacturing area, they could discuss robotic arms used in local factories.
- In a rural setting, they might connect to automated irrigation systems or crop-harvesting robots.
- Students may also suggest everyday items, such as robotic vacuums, smart thermostats, or programmable dishwashers.
- If students are unfamiliar with terms like automation or autonomous, define them together to help students establish shared language.
This unit introduces the concepts of sequencing and path planning. Students can approach coding the robot to solve the unit challenge in multiple ways. For a discussion on how to encourage students to generate multiple approaches to solving open-ended problems, read this conversation in the PD+ Community.
Co-Creating Learning Targets
Now that you have watched the video, you know that you will be using the robot's built-in Button Coding to code the robot to pick up barrels and deliver them to AprilTags. Think about what you will need to know and learn to accomplish these tasks.You will co-create learning targets with your group and your teacher so that you have a shared understanding of your learning goals for this unit.
Record your learning targets in your journal. You will return to these learning targets later in the unit to reflect on your progress and to plan for future learning.
Now that you have watched the video, you know that you will be using the robot's built-in Button Coding to code the robot to pick up barrels and deliver them to AprilTags. Think about what you will need to know and learn to accomplish these tasks.You will co-create learning targets with your group and your teacher so that you have a shared understanding of your learning goals for this unit.
Record your learning targets in your journal. You will return to these learning targets later in the unit to reflect on your progress and to plan for future learning.
Guide students as a whole class through the process of co-creating learning targets. Providing additional support is helpful as students learn this process. In future units, this initial brainstorming can be completed individually or in small groups.
- Brainstorm with students what they will need to know to be able to complete the activities shown in the video above. Frame these as “I can” statements.
- Example “I can” statements include:
- I can use Button Coding to code the robot to pick up and deliver barrels.
- I can collaborate with my group to make a plan to code the robot to complete the unit challenge.
- Example “I can” statements include:
- Co-create learning targets based on that list.
Use the process of co-creating learning targets to introduce vocabulary such as sequencing, debugging, or automation, and incorporate those words into students' learning targets to best meet their needs.
For more guidance on co-creating learning targets with your students, see this VEX Library Article.
Select Next > to learn more about using Button Coding.