This week, students learned about impact, one of FIRST LEGO League core values; built a car with SPIKE Essential; and began to explore visual effects.

Students first learned about impact and how they all have an impact on their community and the world. Next, students documented examples of how they have an impact in their engineering notebook.

After that, in partners, students did the Cave Car activity from the LEGO Spike app. Students built a car in which each wheel was powered by a different motor. Initially, the cars only had to be programmed to move forward for a certain distance. Once students, mastered that, they moved on to make upgrades to their code. For this, the teams were encouraged to explore the other movement blocks, such as move backwards, turn right, and turn left. These upgrades made to the code had to be documented in their engineering notebook.

As well, the teams began to learn about visual effects and the technology used to create visual effects. Students learned how many films have a person or a team in charge of visual effects. The team discussed the purpose of visual effects: to make an experience even more immersive and engaging. They also discussed more innovative technology being used to create visual effects.