Hovering Helicopter

• Review the Hovering Helicopter lesson in the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ App.
• Consider the abilities and backgrounds of all your students. Differentiate the lesson to make it accessible to everyone. See the Differentiation section below for suggestions.
• If time allows, plan and facilitate the language arts extension. See the Extension section below for more information.

• Facilitate a quick discussion about describing a decision, a choice, or experience to a friend.
  • Talk with your students about telling a friend about a new experience (e.g., an activity or movie).
  • Ask questions, like: How do you feel when you tell someone about a new experience? Why do you think it's valuable to share?
• Introduce your students to the story’s main characters and the first challenge: starting the helicopter.
• Distribute a brick set and a device to each group.

• Have your students use the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ App to guide them through their first challenge:
  • Create and test the program that starts the helicopter.
• Have your students iterate and test their models to complete the next two challenges in the app:
  • Create the program that makes the helicopter act differently when it's tilted.
  • Upgrade the helicopter for Maria’s next adventure.
• You can find coding and building support in the Tips section below.

• Gather your students together to reflect on their completed challenges.
• Ask questions, like: How did Maria’s helicopter get to Spike Mountain? How did you modify Maria’s helicopter to improve it for her next adventure?

• Prompt your students to discuss and reflect on the choices they've made while developing their programs.
• Ask questions, like: Why is it important to describe the choices you've made when creating your program? How can describing your program to others help you improve it?
• Have your students clean up their workstations.

• 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.

Observation Checklist

• Measure your students’ proficiency in describing the choices they've made while developing their programs.
• 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 explain the decisions I've made while developing my program.
  • Blue: I can explain the decisions I've made while developing my program.
  • Green: I can explain the decisions I've made while developing my program, and I can help a friend do it too.

Peer-Feedback

• 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…

Coding Tip

• After your students complete their first challenge, they'll be provided with three Inspiration Coding Blocks to help them modify their programs.
• The Inspiration Coding Blocks are intended to spark their imaginations as they experiment to find their own solutions.

Model Tip

• After your students complete their second challenge, they’ll be provided with three Inspiration Images and an open-ended prompt for improving their models.
• The Inspiration Images are to help spark their imaginations as they experiment and change their models.

There aren't any building instructions for this challenge.

Simplify this lesson by:

• Reading the Hovering Helicopter story and instructions from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ App aloud to your students
• Selecting one Inspiration Image to help your students change their models

Increase the difficulty by:

• Adding the Color Sensor or another motor to Maria’s helicopter
• Pairing up student groups to explain their programs and suggest improvements to one another

• Have your students write a narrative about what Maria sees, hears, smells, and feels on her hike.

If facilitated, this will extend beyond the 45-minute lesson.

Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3.B