Training Camp 1: Driving Around

1. Prepare

• Read through the student material in the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ App.
• If you feel it's needed, plan a lesson using the getting started material in the app. This will help familiarize your students with LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime.

2. Engage (5 Min.)

• Use the ideas in the Ignite a Discussion section below to engage your students in a discussion related to this lesson.
• Use the video to explain the lesson.

3. Explore (20 Min.)

• Have your students work in pairs to build the Practice Driving Base model.
• Give them some time to use the programming stacks provided to explore the movement of the Driving Base.
• Ask them to change the values and parameters of the blocks and to observe the effects.

4. Explain (5 Min.)

• Facilitate a discussion about the importance of planning each step of their program.
• Explain what pseudocode is and how it can help in their program planning.

5. Elaborate (15 Min.)

• Have your students find a way to move their Driving Base in a square.
• Set up a navigation challenge and encourage your students to test their skills.
• Don't forget to leave some time for cleanup.

6. Evaluate

• Give feedback on each student's performance.
• You can use the assessment rubrics provided to simplify the process.

Navigating through obstacles on robotics competition fields is a key to success. Engage your students in a discussion by asking them to:

• Describe a field tactic associated with their favorite sport
• List all the movements they think their Driving Base should be able to perform

Have your students watch this video to see what they're about to do.

A Simple Driving Base
Use the simple Driving Base model with no sensors. Remember to use the cable clips.

Main Program

Possible Solution

Other Programs

Simplify this lesson by:

• Spending extra time explaining what is being controlled by each parameter of the program blocks

Take this lesson to the next level by:

• Asking your students to use the Gyro Sensor to program their Driving Base to drive in a square
• Practicing speed and precision on a larger surface, like a competition table

Teacher Observation Checklist
Create a scale that matches your needs, for example:

1. Partially accomplished
2. Fully accomplished
3. Overachieved

Use the following success criteria to evaluate your students' progress:

• Students can select appropriate blocks for making controlled movements.
• Students can change the parameters of blocks in iterative ways.
• Students can stack appropriate move blocks together to create programs.

Self-Assessment
Have each student choose the brick that they feel best represents their performance.

• Blue: I've made the Driving Base move in different ways.
• Yellow: I've created different programs to move the Driving Base in a square.
• Violet: I've combined different types of motor movements to successfully navigate around obstacles.

Peer-Assessment
Encourage your students to provide feedback to others by:

• Having one student score the performance of another using the colored brick scale above.
• Asking them to present constructive feedback to each other so that they can improve their group's performance during the next lesson.

To incorporate language arts skills development:

• Have your students look for the most precise way of traveling a distance of 2 meters by exploring these options:

  ▷ Move in seconds
  ▷ Move in degrees
  ▷ Move in rotations
  ▷ Move with sensor

• Ask them to create a document explaining in which situation(s) they'd use each option, and why.

Note: This will make for a longer lesson.

To incorporate math skills development:

When calculating distances with the Driving Base:

• Drive forward for one second, one rotation, or a number of degrees. Use this as the basis for estimating the total distance based on the distance traveled.
• Calculate the circumference of the wheel and use this to measure distance traveled (circumference = Pi x diameter, or circumference = Pi x 2 x radius)

Note: This will make for a longer lesson.

Students who enjoyed this lesson might be interested in exploring these career pathways:

• Health Science (Medical & Health Careers)
• Information Technology (Game Programming)