ST. Brendan Legos & VEX Volunteering

 

Cruishing it, you are!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all our volunteer coaches and support crew, past and present, who have kept this amazing STEM program going for our students!  Here are some resources to help you plan out your sessions along with some great ideas.  Enjoy!

FIRST Lego League

FLL Discover

FLL Explore

Roadmap for Pre-K Team (sPRING 2024)

Pre-K Coaches, please begin each session with a short "6-Bricks" excercise.  For this term, many of the sessions will be based on the the following STEAM Park modules.  Click the session plans below for more details.  Coaches are encouraged to go off-script and to rotate in their own ideas to help spark the children's creativity seasonally (e.g., Halloween theme, Christmas, etc.).  

4/12: Steam Park Lesson - Functional builds

4/19: Steam Park Lesson - Ramps

4/26: Steam Park Lesson - Help Mr. Bear

5/3: Steam Park Lesson - Gears

5/10: Steam Park Lesson - Chain Reaction

5/24: Steam Park Lesson - Probability

5/31: Steam Park Lesson - Plants/Animals or Weather Unit

Roadmap for Kindergarten Team (sPRING 2024)

Kindergarten Coaches, please begin each session with a short "6-Bricks" excercise.  For this term, many of the sessions will be based on the the following STEAM Park modules.  Click the session plans below for more details.

4/12: Steam Park Lesson - Functional builds

4/19: Steam Park Lesson - Ramps

4/26: VEX 123 Coding - Find the Bug (Lab 1)

5/3: VEX 123 Coding - Find the Bug (Lab 2)

5/10: Steam Park Lesson - Help Mr. Bear

5/24: Steam Park Lesson - Gears

5/31: Steam Park Lesson - Chain Reaction

Roadmap for 1st Grade Team (sPRING 2024)

1st- and 2nd-grade coaches, for this fall, we will warm up with LEGO BricQ kits.  We will then explore the FLL Explore theme!  Teams will learn the theme's STEM focus and will start designing and building a model.  Students continuing onto winter will finish their models and present them at the end of the term at a robotics event in our gym!  We will use FLL Explore kits primarily.  Some sessions will additionally require the WeDo 2.0/Spike Essentials kits and school-provided iPads.  

Click the session plans below for more details.  Additional FLL Explore resources can be found above (e.g., team meeting guide, engineering notebook).

4/12: WeDo 2.0 Coding Module - Choreography

See the iPad LEGO WeDo 2.0 app for a list of modules.  Students will follow the step-by-step instructions with coaches offering support.Students may all pick the same or different builds among Glowing Snail, Cooling Fan, Moving Satellite, Spy Robot, or Milo the Science Rover.  Coaches will encourage students to come together and come up with some coordinate movement &/or sounds with all the robots together.  For example, if they all choose MIlo the Science Rover, they could plan out a robot group dance!  Students will need to focus on quickly building their robots so that they can accomplish this task.  Coaches may have to help slower teams and to keep the group effort on track.  

4/19: WeDo 2.0 Coding Module - Collaborating

See the iPad LEGO WeDo 2.0 app for a list of modules.  Students will follow the step-by-step instructions with coaches offering support.This module requires teamwork between 2 teams to create the collaborative robot.  One team will be able to steer left while the other will be able to steer right.  Coaches are encouraged to make a mini obstacle course and host a friendly competition.  Encourage collaborating teams to make a plan and to communicate with one another during their run.  Coaches may time each run and allow multiple runs if time permits.  

4/26: BricQ Lesson

5/3: BricQ Lesson

5/10: VEX 123 - Intro to Coding (Lab 1)

5/24: VEX 123 - Intro to Coding (Lab 2)

5/31: WeDo 2.0 Coding Module - Student's Choice

See the iPad LEGO WeDo 2.0 app for a list of modules.  Students will follow the step-by-step instructions with coaches offering support.  Coaches may also encourage the children to be creative and to build something totally new!

Roadmap for 2nd Grade Team (sPRING 2024)

1st- and 2nd-grade coaches, for this fall, we will warm up with LEGO BricQ kits.  We will then explore the FLL Explore theme!  Teams will learn the theme's STEM focus and will start designing and building a model.  Students continuing onto winter will finish their models and present them at the end of the term at a robotics event in our gym!  We will use FLL Explore kits primarily.  Some sessions will additionally require the WeDo 2.0/Spike Essentials kits and school-provided iPads.  

Click the session plans below for more details.  Additional FLL Explore resources can be found above (e.g., team meeting guide, engineering notebook).

4/12: VEX 123 - Intro to Coding (Lab 1)

4/19: VEX 123 - Intro to Coding (Lab 2)

4/26: WeDo 2.0 Coding Module - Choreography

See the iPad LEGO WeDo 2.0 app for a list of modules.  Students will follow the step-by-step instructions with coaches offering support.Students may all pick the same or different builds among Glowing Snail, Cooling Fan, Moving Satellite, Spy Robot, or Milo the Science Rover.  Coaches will encourage students to come together and come up with some coordinate movement &/or sounds with all the robots together.  For example, if they all choose MIlo the Science Rover, they could plan out a robot group dance!  Students will need to focus on quickly building their robots so that they can accomplish this task.  Coaches may have to help slower teams and to keep the group effort on track.  

5/3: WeDo 2.0 Coding Module - Collaborating

See the iPad LEGO WeDo 2.0 app for a list of modules.  Students will follow the step-by-step instructions with coaches offering support.This module requires teamwork between 2 teams to create the collaborative robot.  One team will be able to steer left while the other will be able to steer right.  Coaches are encouraged to make a mini obstacle course and host a friendly competition.  Encourage collaborating teams to make a plan and to communicate with one another during their run.  Coaches may time each run and allow multiple runs if time permits.  

5/10: BricQ Lesson

5/24: WeDo 2.0 Coding Module - Student's Choice

See the iPad LEGO WeDo 2.0 app for a list of modules.  Students will follow the step-by-step instructions with coaches offering support.  Coaches may also encourage the children to be creative and to build something totally new!

5/31: BricQ Lesson

Roadmap for VEX GO Teams (Winter 2024)

Students will dive into the STEM theme of "Ocean Science Exploration"!  In this VEX GO Competition STEM Lab Unit, students will drive a Hero Robot to move sensors, fix a pipeline, open a clam, deliver a pearl and more!  Click the links below for more details on each module.  

Session 1: Intro to Ocean Science Exploration

Students will be introduced to the competition theme by learning background information.  This includes exploring the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)  and its Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).  This robot's work involved mapping rift zones, collecting samples of underwater volcanic lava flow, analyzing compositions of samples, and looking at the effects of the underwater ecosystems around these areas.  The robot in this unit is modeled to replicate some of the tasks that the ROV accomplished in ocean research.

Session 2: Choice Board

Includes activities such as building the competition Field, working on your team's hero robot, coding, and learning more about ocean science.  

Session 3: Choice Board

Includes activities such as building the competition Field, working on your team's hero robot, coding, and learning more about ocean science.  

Session 4: Choice Board

Includes activities such as building the competition Field, working on your team's hero robot, coding, and learning more about ocean science.  

Session 5: Choice Board

Includes activities such as building the competition Field, working on your team's hero robot, coding, and learning more about ocean science.  

Session 6: Choice Board

Includes activities such as building the competition Field, working on your team's hero robot, coding, and learning more about ocean science.  

Session 7: Competition Prep

Students take all the skills they have learned and combine them to winning game strategies in the Ocean Science Exploration!

Optional Practice Dates:

Competition teams may sign up for a 30-minute time slot for the following dates.  Sign-ups will be available in February.  

Session 8: March Madness Tournament in St. Brendan's Gym!

"Code Base" STEM Lab Certificate awarded!

Roadmap for VEX IQ Teams (Fall 2023)


Students will be introduced to their VEX IQ kits and will earn 2 STEM Lab certificates this term!  They will also learn about the VEX IQ Season Challenge "Full Volume", and we'll explore possible participation in this exciting robotics competition if there is interest.  Click the links below for more details on each module.  

Session 1: Treasure Hunt - Introduction

Disassemble and clean-up kits from the last competition.  Assign teams and kits.  Start on "Introduction" Module.  Skill(s) developed - Building, engineering notebook

Session 2: Treasure Hunt - Claw No Sensor

Skill(s) developed - Autonomous operation without sensors, code planning

Session 3: Treasure Hunt - Claw No Sensor

Skill(s) developed - Autonomous operation with sensors, conditional statements, loops

Session 4: Treasure Hunt - Competition!

Skill(s) developed - Engineering design process, performance assessment, optimization

Session 5: Treasure Hunt - Conclusion

Skill(s) developed - Reflection, analysis"Treasure Hunt" STEM Lab Certificate awarded!

Session 6: Engineering Mechanics - Mechanical Advantage

Skill(s) developed - Mechanical advantage, torque vs. speed, gear ratios

Session 7: Engineering Mechanics - Grabber

Skill(s) developed - Motion with linkages, input and output forces

Session 8: Engineering Mechanics - Pulleys

Skill(s) developed - Mechanical advantage, redirecting force, pulley systems"Engineering Mechanics" STEM Lab Certificate awarded!