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Summary:STEM Labs are fun STEM engagements that align to educational standards. All STEM Labs contain activities that are structured around iterative, engineering processes, real-world applications and opportunities for students to build teamwork and collaboration skills. STEM Labs provide students with hands-on, minds-on engagements that encourage students to design creative solutions and innovate through experimentation. STEM Labs are flexible enough to be used in any instructional setting (e.g. in-school, after-school, camps, VEX robotics teams/clubs, etc.)

The following Pacing Guide shows all VEX EXP STEM Labs Units and Activities in sequence for a classroom implementation.

Each VEX EXP STEM Lab Unit is centered around a competition game, where students will apply their learning, use the engineering design process, and collaborate with teammates to compete in a classroom competition. STEM Lab Units are designed for flexible implementation, and can be used in a variety of time frames and sequences, to best meet the needs of your students. VEX EXP Activities offer more ways to engage with the VEX EXP Kit, providing simple one page exercises that blend STEM concepts with curricular content in fun and engaging ways. They are designed to be easy to follow for independent student use, giving them great flexibility in terms of classroom implementation. Activities can be used as part of a teacher's lesson, as an extension activity, or as a scaffolding strategy to support differentiated learning.
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WeeksSTEM Lab/Activity LevelDescriptionBuildProgramming?Key Concepts
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Weeks 1 & 2Team Freeze TagBeginnerStudents will drive the BaseBot using the Controller, choose wheels, and add sensors to their robot to compete in the Team Freeze Tag competition.BaseBotYes, VEXcode EXPController
Sensors
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Weeks 3 & 4Robot Soccer BeginnerStudents will explore how to use the Controller to drive their Clawbot to grab, pass, and score the most points in a Robot Soccer competition.ClawbotNoEngineering Design
Manipulators
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Week 5Bucky BasketballIntermediateStudents will explore how to drive the CatapultBot to collect, shoot, and score Buckyballs into hoops in the Bucky Basketball competition.CatapultBotNoEngineering Design
Controller
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Weeks 6, 7 & 8Up and OverIntermediateStudents will explore how to design a Clawbot to collect, pick up, and move Buckyballs from one side of the Field to the other, in the Up and Over competition.ClawbotYes, VEXcode EXPEngineering Design
Arm Design
Motor Groups
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Weeks 9 & 10Ring LeaderIntermediateStudents will explore the difference between competing in a driver controlled and autonomous competition. They will use both autonomous and driver control in order to score Rings on different sized posts in the Ring Leader competition.ClawbotYes, VEXcode EXPDriver Control
Coding Autonomous Movements
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Weeks 11 & 12Treasure HuntIntermediateStudents will build and code the Clawbot with the Optical Sensor to recognize and collect red Buckyballs to compete in the Treasure Hunt competition.ClawbotYes, VEXcode EXPSensors
Programming
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Weeks 13, 14, & 15Platform Placer AdvancedStudents will explore using manipulators on the Clawbot, including lifts, to move Buckyballs and rings to platforms of different levels. They will cooperate with another team to create a strategy combining robot design and driver skills to compete in the Platform Placer Competition!ClawbotYes, VEXcode EXPEngineering Design
Manipulators
Lifts
Driver Control
Strategy
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Weeks 16, 17, & 18Castle CrasherAdvancedStudents will explore how to use the Optical and Distance sensors to seek, crash, and clear Buckyball ‘castles’ to score points in the Castle Crasher competition.BaseBotYes, VEXcode EXPEngineering Design
Sensors
Algorithms
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Weeks 19 - 24Clean Water Mission (Coming Soon)AdvancedStudents engage in a series of open-ended challenges to use the AI Vision Sensor to identify, sort, and deliver contaminated, clean, and purified water through the various areas of a water treatment system.ClawbotYes, VEXcode EXPAI Vision Sensor
Algorithms
Open-Ended Challenges