VEX GO Lab 1 Unpowered Super Car Teacher Portal Instruction Manual

VEX GO Lab 1 Unpowered Super Car Teacher Portal

Specifications

• Product: VEX GO – Physical Science
• Labs: Lab 1 – Unpowered Super Car

Product Information
VEX GO STEM Labs serve as an online teacher’s manual providing resources for planning, teaching, and assessing with VEX GO. The Lab Image Slideshows are designed for student engagement and comprehension.

Product Usage Instructions

Goals

Students will:

• Apply data gathering, reading, and comparison skills.
• Utilize spatial language for VEX GO builds and class discussions.
• Make predictions about motion, stability, and data usage.
• Record data accurately and measure distances traveled by the Unpowered Car.

Objective(s)

1. Record data accurately.
2. Predict car performance based on previous test data.
3. Apply spatial concepts during activities.

Activity

1. Measure and record distances traveled by the Unpowered Super Car in different scenarios.
2. Predict car performance based on previous test data.
3. Collaborate to build the Unpowered Super Car and conduct experiments.

Assessment

1. Complete the Data Collection Sheet with distance measurements and share results in class discussions.
2. Make reasonable predictions based on past trials and record them.
3. Demonstrate understanding by using spatial language in communication.

Goals and Standards

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

Students will know

• How to use the gathered data to compare movements of the car in various conditions.
• How to measure distances traveled by the car.

Objective

1. Record data accurately.
2. Predict car performance based on data from previous tests.
3. Identify and apply spatial concepts when conducting the Unpowered Super Car build, during experiment trials, and in class discussions.

Activity

1. Students will measure and record distances the Unpowered Super Car travels in two scenarios. They will use a Data Collection Sheet to record their trial results.
2. Using data from previous tests in Play Part 1, students will predict how their car will perform when run down a ramp of different heights in the Play Part 2 section of the Lab.
3. Groups will collaborate to build the Unpowered Super Car and conduct several experiments.

Assessment

1.  Students complete the Data Collection Sheet with distance measurements, and share results in class discussions.
2. Students will make reasonable predictions based on past trials, and record their predictions on the Data Collection Sheet.
3. Students will demonstrate their understanding by using spatial language when communicating build instructions and experiment results.

Connections to Standards

Showcase Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
NGSS 3-PS2-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.

How Standard is Achieved: Students will conduct an investigation during Play Part 1 and 2 to measure and record the distances that their Unpowered Super Car travels when force is applied to it. The students will take turns manually pushing the car to experience it moving from different amounts of force in Play Part 1. In Play Part 2, students will observe and measure the distance the car traveled after going down different ramp angles under the force of gravity.
Showcase Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
NGSS 3-PS2-2: Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.
How Standard is Achieved: After the students have observed the car’s motion in Play Part 1, the students will discuss their predictions for how the car will move depending on the amount of force during the Mid-Play Break.

Additional Standards

• International Society for Technical Education (ISTE)
• ISTE – (5) Computational Thinker – 5c: Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
• How Standard is Achieved: Throughout the entire lab, students will be analyzing and breaking down the concept of, “what is a balanced and unbalanced force, and how does force a?ect the Unpowered Super Car’s movement?” Students will be building two di?erent types of models to better understand unbalanced forces. The ?rst model is in Play Part 1 with the manual push force and the second is in Play Part 2 with the model of the ramp. Both models will be documented with measurements and data.

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 o?er suggestions for setup, these documents are all editable to best suit your classroom and the needs of your students.

Lab 1 Image Slideshow| For teacher and student reference: how to build a ramp.| 1 for teacher facilitation
Unpowered Super Car Build Instructions (PDF) or Unpowered Super Car Build Instructions (3D)| For students to build the Unpowered Super Car.| 1 per group
Robotics Roles & Routines| Editable Google Doc for organizing group work and best practices for using the VEX GO Kit.| 1 per group
Data Collection Sheet or Lab 1 Data Collection Example| Editable Google Doc for students to record data during the Play section.| 1 per group
Ruler/ Measuring Tape| For students to measure the distance traveled by their Unpowered Super Car.| 1 per group
Masking tape| For students to mark the distance traveled by their Unpowered Super Car.| 1 roll per group
VEX GO Tile| For students to build a ramp.| 1 per group
Pencils| For students to record data, document design ideas and fill out the Robotics Roles & Routines worksheets.| 1 per student
Pin Tool| To help remove pins or pry beams apart.| 1 per group
Get Ready…Get VEX…GO! PDF Book (optional)| To read with students to introduce them to VEX GO through a story and introductory build.| 1 for demonstration purposes
Get Ready…Get VEX…GO! Teacher’s Guide (optional)| For additional prompts when introducing students to VEX GO with| 1 for teacher use
Materials| Purpose| Recommendation
---|---|---
| the PDF Book.|

Engage

Begin the lab by engaging with the students.

Play

Allow students to explore the concepts introduced.

1. Part 1
   Students will take turns pushing their Unpowered Super  surface and measuring the distance the car travels.  Each member of the group will push while the other members measure and record the distances on the Data Collection Sheet. Students will make predictions based on their observations.
   Mid-Play Break
   How were the pushes dierent? How did the force of the push the distance travelled?

2. Part 2
   Students will experiment with gravitational forces by using a ramp to move the car rather than pushing. Students will measure the distances traveled by the car at dierent ramp angles.

Share
Allow students to discuss and display their learning.

Discussion Prompts

1. How did the ramp the distance the Unpowered Super Car traveled?
2. What was most  about measuring distance?

Engage

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

1. Engage students in the lesson by making a connection to a personal experience with forces.
2. Show the Unpowered Super Car, and demonstrate pushing the car.
3. Use a piece of tape to mark a starting point. Push the Unpowered Super Car across a desk, and use a second piece of tape to mark where it stops.
4. Pick up the car and bring it back to the same starting point.
5.  Push the Unpowered Super Car harder this time so that it moves a longer distance.
6. Point out the difference between when the car is moving and when it is stationary.

|

1. Ask students if they have ever been on a slide at a playground. What happens when they sit at the top? What made you go down the slide? Forces! Gravity brought you down the slide.
2. What made my Super Car move?
3.  How can we measure how far our Unpowered Super Car travels?
4. How could we make our car travel further?
5. How far did my Super Car go?
   • We don’t know for sure. We know it went about far across the desk. But that is an estimate.
   • We need to measure how far our Super Car traveled.
6. How do forces affect how far our car is going to travel? What do you think it means to have a balanced force versus an unbalanced one?

Getting the Students Ready to Build
How can forces tell us how far a car is going to travel? We are going to build an Unpowered Super Car to measure and test how far our car travels.

Facilitate the Build

1. Instruct
   Instruct students to join their team, and have them complete the Robotics Roles & Routines sheet. Use the Suggested Role Responsibilities slide in the Lab Image Slideshow as a guide for students to complete this sheet.

2. Distribute
   Distribute build instructions to each team. Journalists should gather the materials on the checklist

3. Facilitate
   Facilitate the build process.

   • Encourage students to use spatial language while discussing the build. Ask them to explain the position of the wheel, or describe why the wheel is on the inside instead of the outside.
   • Ask students to experiment with the pieces if time allows and encourage spatial language: How many small pieces does it take to create the length of the car?
   • Refer to the Robotics Roles & Routines handout for group instruction. Builders can begin building. If there are multiple builders, they should alternate steps to complete the build.
   • Journalists should assist with the build, gather materials, and record information on the Data Collection Sheet.

4. Offer
   Offer suggestions and note positive team building and problem solving strategies as teams build together.

Teacher Troubleshooting

• If students are having trouble with the pins, the Pin Tool as support.

Facilitation Strategies

• Ask students to refer to their Robotics Roles & Routines in class. What are their responsibilities?
  Remind students about agreed upon strategies for decision making, should questions arise during group work. Things like ipping a coin, taking turns, or rolling a die can help students make decisions in fast and fair ways.

• Use the Get Ready…Get VEX…GO! PDF Book and Teacher’s Guide – If students are new to VEX GO, read the PDF book and use the prompts in the Teacher’s Guide to facilitate an introduction to building and using VEX GO before beginning the Lab activities. Students can join their groups and gather their VEX GO Kits, and follow along with the building activity within the book as you read.

  • Use the Teacher’s Guide to facilitate student engagement. To focus on VEX GO connections in a more concrete or tangible way, use the Share, Show, or Find prompts on each page to give students an opportunity to get to know their kits in more depth.
  • To focus on the habits of mind that support building and learning with VEX GO, like persistence, patience, and teamwork, use the Think prompts on each page to engage students in conversations about mindset and strategies to support successful group work and creative thinking.
  • To learn more about using the PDF book and accompanying Teacher’s Guide as a teaching tool any time you are using VEX GO in your classroom, see this VEX Library article.

Share

Show Your Learning

Discussion Prompts Observing

• What did you do to change how the car moved?
• How far did your car drive, and why?
• What was most difficult about measuring distance?
• How was pushing the car different from letting the car travel down a ramp?
• How did the ramp affect the distance the Unpowered Super Car traveled?

Predicting

• Why do some cars go farther than others when pushed?
• Why do some cars go farther than others when they go down a ramp?
• Which option do they think would travel further: an Unpowered Super Car that goes down a slide or an Unpowered Super Car that was pushed with lots of force by the teacher?

Collaborating

• What worked well in your group?
• What would your team do differently if you had to build it again?
• What challenges did you face?

Play
Part 1 – Step by Step

1. Instruct
   Instruct students to place the car at their starting line and push the car forward.
   

2. Model
   Model how to measure by having students mark their ending point with tape, then use a ruler or other measuring tool to measure the distance traveled from the beginning point to the ending point.
   
   Model for students how to set up their Data Collection Sheet or use the preset Lab 1 Data Collection Example document.  Make sure students are clear on their methods for recording who pushed the car each time using one group as an example.
   

3. Facilitate
   Facilitate discussions with students as they work by asking the following questions that encourage students to use spatial language.

   • What direction does your car travel?
   •  How far did it travel?
   • Can you explain how to make the Unpowered Super Car travel farther?
   • How would you make the car travel a shorter distance?

4. Remind
   Remind students to take turns pushing the car, and to push the car with different amounts of force (pushing it hard or soft).

5. Ask
   Ask the students what patterns they see. When does the car go further? What does the data tell you about what might happen next? Ask students to make predictions based on what they observe.

Mid-Play Break & Group Discussion

As soon as every group has completed their tests pushing the car and measuring the distance, come together for a brief conversation.

• When did the car travel the most distance?
• How did you measure the distance?
• Based on your observations, how does the amount of force relate to how far the car moves?
• Make a prediction, if you were to push the car with a small amount of force, would it travel a shorter or longer distance compared to if you pushed the car with a large amount of force.

Part 2 – Step by Step

Instruct
Instruct students that they are going to use a VEX GO Field Tile to create a ramp. Explain that they are going to build an attachment for the bottom of the tile that will enable them to change the height of the ramp

• First, attach two Yellow stands to a White Beam. Then, attach this to the holes on the top row of an overturned VEX GO Field Tile.

• Students will then add two Yellow, Blue, and Orange Standos to the White Beam to adjust the height of the ramp. The Yellow Standos being the lowest height, the Blue Standos being the middle height, and the Orange Stando being the tallest height. Students will start their Unpowered Super Car at the top of their ramp each time.
• Show students how to mark the start of their ramp. This ensures that the car is starting from the same position each time, when the height of the ramp is adjusted using the standos. This is also helpful if the ramp happens to move slightly during testing. 

Model
Model for students how to start their ramp at its lowest position with the Yellow Standos.

• Have the students place their cars on the top of the ramp and let go.
• Model proper measuring and data collection routines while groups are taking measurements of how far the car traveled when using the ramp as the starting point.
• Once students have tested the ramp at the lowest height with the Yellow Standos, instruct students to repeat the process again at two more heights with the Blue and Orange Standos.

Facilitate
Facilitate a conversation about how far the car is traveling as students are testing on their ramp by asking the following questions:

• Did you imagine your car would travel a farther or a shorter distance than what occurred?
• What do you think would happen if you pushed the car instead of just letting it roll?
• What do you notice in the distance the car travels between the different heights?
• Does one height make the car travel further compared to another?

1. Remind
   Remind students not to push their cars. They should just release the car because they are experimenting with how far gravity makes the Unpowered Super Car travel. Also remind students to test their car at all three heights, and to record their data after each trial.

2. Ask
   Ask students what force is making the car move?

Optional: Teams may deconstruct their Unpowered Super Car if needed at this point in the experience. However, there is an optional transitional set of Build Instructions to build the Super Car from an already constructed Unpowered Super Car in Lab 2: Super Car.

VEX GO – Physical Science – Lab 1 – Unpowered Super Car
Copyright 02023 VEX Robotics, Inc,

References

• Instructions Online by Cadasio.com

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