Fundamentals of Coding with SPIKE Essential teaches coding and STEM concepts to elementary school students using the LEGO SPIKE Essential kit. The curriculum will cover topics such as basic coding, creating algorithms, conditional statements, and loops. Students assemble robot designs with the SPIKE Essential kit based on real-world robots, which helps to foster creativity, problem-solving skills, and an understanding of how coding and robotics are used in the real world. Fundamentals of Coding with SPIKE Essential is designed to develop a foundation in coding that will prepare students for more advanced programming concepts in the future.
Unit 1: Light Up Snackbot
Snackbot is a robot that was designed to deliver snacks to people within an office. It communicates using lights and sounds. Build a robot like Snackbot and use the Light Matrix to display colored patterns and messages! The robot design for this unit is Snackbot.
Unit 2: Spinny Snackbot
It's snack time! In this unit you will learn how to make Snackbot deliver snacks by attaching and programming the motor to make it move. The robot design for this unit is Spinny Snackbot; a slight variation of the original Snackbot.
Unit 3: Buggy Bugs
Not every program is perfect, some may have errors (a.k.a "bugs"). Let's identify the errors and make a plan to fix them! The robot design for this unit is PixelPest.
Unit 4: Journey on the Moon
Iris is a lunar rover that drives on the moon collecting data for geological sciences. Build your Iris robot and program it to move forward and explore on the moon! The robot design for this unit is Iris.
Unit 5: Dodging Craters
Iris may come across some craters on the moon. Program the robot to be able to turn so that you don't run into them! The robot design for this unit is Iris.
Unit 6: Strawberry Spotting
Use the Color Sensor to detect red ripe strawberries! The robot design for this unit is the Strawberry Sorter.
Unit 7: Loopy Strawberries
Identify patterns and program with loops to repeat behaviors. The robot design for this unit is the Strawberry Sorter.
Unit 8: Sorting Strawberries
Program the Strawberry Sorter to make decisions so that it can... sort strawberries! You will use if-then-else blocks to program simple decisions and looped decisions. The robot design for this unit is the Strawberry Sorter.
Unit 9: Tilt it, Shake it, Bot-it!
Learn how to program Events with the Gyro Sensor! The robot build for this unit is Bot-it.