I am wondering if anyone other there has a source for Lego Robotics Curriculum that you use in a classroom type setting that would tie into FLL We are in the process of adding another Industrial Tech teacher and want this position to include some lego robotics at the elementary level.
Currently our school district has FRC and FTC.
Thanks for your time and help. Go teams!
Bluejacket Robotics
Not The Droids, one of the top FLL teams has set up a pretty comprehensive curriculum. It can be found at the link below. I know of many FLL teams that have used this curriculum to great advantage including the team that won the South Texas Regional Tournament in the 2014-2015 season. It is the resource we recommend when we are mentoring FLL teams.
While very well integrated with your involvement in FIRST programs, you’re likely to find LEGO Robotics is rather cost prohibitive for the long haul in terms of affordability and flexibility in the classroom setting. There is an EV3 curriculum at a price that plugs into the programming software. If your educational goal is to “prepare some kids for FLL participation” and you can afford it / make due with the free resources others have posted, then go that way.
However, if your educational goal is to reach the most elementary students possible with the most affordable/accessible product out there that is completely education standards matched, then I’d consider the VEX IQ Platform and FREE Curriculum online.
The Classroom Bundle is a huge seller - 12 kits, plus objects to manipulate all for $3499:
There are also printed curriculum products that serve as teacher’s guide and “textbook” of sorts at a nominal cost (if you desire hard copies to go with web resources/downloadable files to print) here: http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq/products/accessories/iq-education-guide-g.html
The two most popular programming languages are RobotC and Modkit (which has a free online version option)
I know you’re looking for something that plugs into your existing system, but there are plenty of folks here (and the number keeps growing) that have VEX IQ as part of their community/school hierarchy of robotics that also include FTC/FRC.
There are also some out there that have replaced FLL with the VEX IQ Challenge (competition) for their elementary students and are loving it (dig around these boards you’ll find some posts).
Although I am VEX’s education manager I also have experience dating back to 2001 running FRC, FTC, VRC, FLL, and VEX IQ teams and I’ve been involved in robotics curriculum efforts on local, state, national, and worldwide scales as well. I would not be suggesting this if I didn’t believe VEX IQ was a viable option for you in the classroom with the potential with way more long term benefit.
No matter which way you go, congrats on integration with the school and working with staff to put robotics into the curriculum. A great way to reach EVERY student, not just the ones on your team(s)! Awesome stuff, and please let me know if you’d like any more information.