SPIKE™ Essential

Explore Lesson 3

Coach your team through the FIRST LEGO League Explore guided lessons and prepare them for the challenges to come!

30-45 min.
Beginner
All Years
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Prepare

  • Review the Explore Lesson 3 lesson in the LEGO® Education SPIKE App.
  • If necessary, pre-teach these related vocabulary words:
    information, improve.

Engage

(5 minutes)

  • Facilitate a quick discussion about asking questions to identify and understand a problem, such as the Explore challenge.
  • Encourage students to use key questions to find out information before they try to solve a problem.
  • Introduce students to who, what, when, where, why, and how questions.

Explore

(20 minutes)

  • Allow students to be guided by the LEGO® Education SPIKE App to complete their first challenge.

  • Build the basic model, on which the students can explore new ideas.

  • Students will then iterate and test their model to complete the next two challenges in the app.

  • The next challenges include:

  • Program the snowmobile to move.

  • Consider how the a driving robot might be used in a solution to the Explore challenge.

Explain

(5 minutes)

  • Talk to the students using GECKO to reflect on their challenges by asking questions such as:
  • What was the problem that needed solving?
  • How did you work together as a team to solve the problem?

Elaborate

(5 minutes)

  • Prompt students to discuss and reflect on how what they’ve learnt in the last three sessions will help them create moving models for their Explore challenge solution.

Evaluate

(as needed)

  • Ask guiding questions to encourage your students to “think aloud” and explain their thought processes and reasoning in the decisions they've made while building and programming.

Teacher Observation Checklist

  • Measure your students’ proficiency in brainstorming solutions for a defined problem.
  • Create a scale that matches your needs. For example:
    1. Needs additional support
    2. Can work independently
    3. Can teach others

Self-Assessment

  • Have each student choose the brick that they feel best represents their performance.
    • Yellow: I think I can ask questions to identify a problem.
    • Blue: I can ask questions to identify a problem.
    • Green: I can ask questions to identify a problem, and help a friend do it too.

Peer Assessment

  • In their small groups, have your students discuss their experiences working together.
  • Encourage them to use statements like these:
    • I liked it when you…
    • I'd like to hear more about how you…

Tips

Model Tip

  • After your students complete their second challenge, they’ll be provided with an open-ended prompt for improving their models.
  • Encourage them to consider the Explore challenge, and. how they might create something relevant to that context.

There aren't any building instructions for this challenge.

Differentiation

Simplify this lesson by:

  • Shortening the lesson to only include the first challenge.

Increase the difficulty by:

  • Modifying the front of the snowmobile to use wheels.
  • Consider how the driving robot could be integrated into the Explore set model.

Teacher Support

Students will:

  • Use the gathered information about the problem to create an improved solution.
  • Learn to use SPIKE Essential to help solve the Explore challenge.

(one for every two students)

  • LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential Set
  • Device with the LEGO® Education SPIKE App installed
  • FIRST LEGO League Explore Set
- Building instructions- Meet the Team: Minifigure Bios

*FIRST* LEGO League Explore Engineering Notebook

Pupil Material

Student Worksheet

Download, view or share as an online HTML page or a printable PDF.