This document provides information about using LEGO Mindstorms robots for STEM education. It includes the following: 1) An overview of the allowed robot parts for competitions, including controllers, motors, sensors and requirements to check competition rules for any changes. 2) A discussion of general thoughts on common problems teams face like aiming robots and heavy attachments, and best practices such as fixtures and gearing. 3) An explanation of computational thinking concepts like decomposition, patterns, and abstraction and how they apply to breaking problems into steps and generalizing solutions in computer science and robotics.

1. Discover STEM
through Mindstorms:
Brick by Brick

2. Aaron Maurer

3. LEGO Master Educator & Advisor

4. Reality is perception: not
a reflection of truth

7. How many
different ways
can you use this
coffee cup?

15. Raise Your Right Hand

18. We express who we are
through what we make.

19. Learning is about stuff that sticks.
Photo by Caleb Woods

21. Allowed Robot Parts
• Controller (1): EV3, NXT, RCX or SPARK PRIME
• Motors (4): any type
• As many sensors as you like but only from this set – touch, light, color,
rotation, ultrasonic, and gyro
• They must all be LEGO-manufactured sensors
• Be sure to check this year’s rules for any changes, especially due to
SPARK PRIME

22. Apple Users: Do Not Update to Catalina
https://education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/mindstorms-ev3/software

23. 94 Team Scores - Moline and Quad Cities 2018 Regionals

24. 94 Team Scores - Moline and Quad Cities 2018 Regionals

25. What does it mean?
Distribution of high & low table scores
Low table scores below 50 ~ 40 teams
High table scores above 100 ~ 11 teams
What are the skill differences?

26. General Thoughts
PROBLEMS
• Aiming the robot in base
• Moves & Turns without finding
waypoints
• Heavy attachments - tool motor has
little control with a massive attachment
• Single finger attachments
• Team members not knowing what to
do next
BEST PRACTICES
• Fixtures to align robot in base
• Plan each mission’s way- points
• Gears w/small motor,
or use large motor
• Fingers to cover error zones
• Practice mission changes,
watch YouTube

29. Computational Thinking

30. Computational Thinking
Concept
Computer Science
Application
Break a problem into parts or steps
Break a computational graph problem into 4
sections, each one to be completed by a
different computer processor
Recognize and find patterns or trends
Visualize data comparing microchip material
and computer speed to notice a trend
Develop instructions to solve a problem
or steps for a task
Write a computer program to sort data
Generalize patterns and trends into
rules, principles or insights
Use data structures to more easily and
efficiently retrieve and use information in a
program

31. Patterns

32. Patterns
Where do we
have to lift
objects?
Where do we
have to push?
Where do we
have to pull?
Where do we
have to identify
color?
Where do we
have to drop
items?

33. Decomposition

34. Decomposition
What are all the possible things that need
to be accomplished on the board?
What are all the barriers to these tasks?
Create subtasks of learning

35. Decomposing Complex Problems = CT

36. http://simonpriest.altervista.org/

37. Exploring Algorithms

38. Abstraction

39. Abstraction
Generalize patterns and trends into rules, principles, or insights
*Cleaning up code
*My Blocks
*Streamlining Mission Structure

65. Program Flow

66. Wait vs. Sensor

68. Move Steering Blocks
Mode
Steering
Speed/Power
Number of Rotations
Brake or Coast
Which motors are
controlled

69. Wait Blocks
Wait For Reflected Light Sensor
Compare Value
- Comparison Operator
- Comparison Value
Change Value
- Change Direction
- Change Amount
Light Sensor Port

70. Loop Blocks
Name of loop
This output value provides the
count of iterations of the loop

71. Switch Blocks – If and
Case Statements

72. Touch or Black Line
Use math on the logic outputs of the
Sensor Blocks to produce an OR
result that controls the loop.

73. Debugging Ideas
• If you don’t know where the robot is in the program, use a
Sound Block to just play a tone to see if the robot has gotten
to a particular point.
• What value does my variable have? Display the value to the
EV3 screen to see the value.
• Take a subtask out of a more complex larger program and
debug it separately rather than trying to debug it in the full
more complex environment.

75. Private Reasoning Time
• Take about 1 minute for private reasoning time(solo)
• Reflect on morning learning
• How can you apply what you have learned to your FLL team?
• What new ideas could you use?
• What do you plan to learn more about?
• What further questions do you have?

76. Partner Reasoning Time
• Discuss your ideas with a partner/small group:
• How can you apply what you have learned to your classroom?
• What new ideas could you use?
• What do you plan to learn more about?
• What further questions do you have?

77. Wrap Up

78. The scandal of education is
that every time you teach
something, you deprive a child
of the pleasure and benefit of
discovery.

79. Think about ….
• Resilience
• Risk taker
• Problem solving
• Enthusiasm
• Confidence
• Self belief
• Inclusive
• Social skills
• Empathy
• Love of learning
How many of these are picked up on high stakes assessment? Or less cynically... What does a classroom look
like that promotes these attributes?

80. DIY < DITDIY

83. STAY AWESOME!