SPIKE™ Prime Set

Keep it really safe!

Use compound conditions to reinforce the encryption pattern on a safe deposit box.

90-120 min.
Intermed.
Year 5 to 8
lesson-header

Lesson Plan

1. Prepare

  • Read through the student material in the LEGO® Education SPIKE App.

2. Engage (5 Min.)

  • Use the ideas in the Ignite a Discussion section below to engage your students in a discussion related to this lesson.
  • Use the video to explain the lesson.

3. Explore (20 Min.)

  • Have your students work in pairs to build the super-safe-deposit box.
  • Ask them to play the program to see how the lock works.

4. Explain (5 Min.)

  • Facilitate a discussion about how and when to use "AND" and "OR" in compound conditionals

5. Elaborate (15 Min.)

  • Ask your students to make their super-safe-deposit boxes even more secure by adding compound conditionals to their programs.
  • Don't forget to leave some time for clean-up.

6. Evaluate

  • Give feedback on each student's performance.
  • In order to simplify the process, you can use the assessment rubrics that have been provided.

Ignite a Discussion

Start a discussion about iteration or fixing things by asking relevant questions. Here are some suggestions:

  • What can happen if somebody hacks your password?
  • How can you evaluate the strength of a password?
  • What's a compound condition?

Have your students watch this video to see what they're about to do.

lesson-header

Building Tips

Partner Build
Split each team's building tasks in order to ensure that everyone is actively involved:

  • Student A: Super-Safe box
  • Student B: Super-Safe door and arm
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Align Motors Correctly
Make sure that the arm is raised when you start the program.

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Manual Unlock
This model has a manual key that can be used to unlock the door if needed.

teacher-manual-unlock

Coding Tips

Main Program

SPIKE Kickstart your business Keep-it-really-safe Step03-Program - en-au

Possible Solution

SPIKE Kickstart your business Keep-it-really-safe Teacher Solution - en-au

Other Programs

SPIKE Kickstart your business Keep-it-really-safe Teacher Other - en-au

Differentiation

Simplify this lesson by:

  • Programming just one compound condition

Take this lesson to the next level by:

  • Having your students add more sensors (e.g. Distance Sensor, Force Sensor) to their models to create other compound conditions
  • Having each team challenge another team to unlock their super-safe-deposit box
  • Asking your students to use the NOT function when defining their conditions

Assessment Opportunities

Teacher Observation Checklist
Create a scale that suits your needs, for example:

  1. Partially accomplished
  2. Fully accomplished
  3. Overachieved

Use the following success criteria to evaluate your students' progress:

  • Students understand what a compound condition is.
  • Students are able to use compound conditions in their program.
  • Students can discuss digital security in detail and with precision.

Self-Assessment
Have each student choose the brick that they feel best represents their performance.

  • Blue: I've used one compound condition in my program.
  • Yellow: I've used two compound conditions in my program.
  • Violet: I've used more than two compound conditions to create a super safe program!

Peer Feedback
Encourage your students to provide feedback to one another by:

  • Having one student score the performance of another using the coloured brick scale above
  • Asking them to present constructive feedback to each other so that they can improve their group's performance during the next lesson.
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Literacy Extension

To incorporate the development of literacy skills:

  • Have your students explore the meaning of digital security terminology, like:

    ▷ Boolean
    ▷ Conditions
    ▷ Compound Conditions
    ▷ AND, OR, NOR, NOT
    ▷ Encryption
    ▷ Case-sensitive

Note: This will make for a longer lesson.

The students who enjoyed this lesson might be interested in exploring these career pathways:

  • Information Technology (Computer Programming)
  • Information Technology (IT Applications)
  • Information Technology (Oracle / Database Programming)
  • Information Technology (Web Design)

Teacher Support

Students will:

  • Explore compound conditional programming

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Pupil Material

Student Worksheet

Download, view or share as an online HTML page or a printable PDF.