Coding with LEGO SPIKE

Students use design thinking to plan, build, and program LEGO creations. With LEGO SPIKE Essential, they build moving robots and statues, design a solution for changing weather, and use conditionals to program a car sensor for vehicle safety. With LEGO SPIKE Prime, they design and program a robotic car that delivers a pencil to a classmate.

Students program their LEGO builds in the LEGO Education SPIKE app rather than inside CodeHS, so they need access to the app on a classroom device. You will also need LEGO SPIKE Essential or LEGO SPIKE Prime kits. CodeHS provides the lesson plans, rubrics, and teaching resources, including slides in English and Spanish for the SPIKE Essential lessons.

Each module uses a different LEGO kit. The LEGO SPIKE Essential module has five lessons that introduce the kit and guide students through design challenges with motors, sound, and sensors. The LEGO SPIKE Prime module has two lessons in which students build and program a robotic car. Teachers can use either module depending on which kit their school has.

The course includes seven 45-minute lessons, about 5 hours and 15 minutes of instruction. The LEGO SPIKE Essential module takes about 3 hours and 45 minutes, and the LEGO SPIKE Prime module takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Coding with LEGO SPIKE lessons are aligned to many state computer science standards, and they also connect to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).