LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential
LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential is part of the LEGO® Learning System. It’s an exciting hands-on solution that uses playful learning experiences to engage primary school students in STEAM learning, putting them on the path to becoming resilient, independent thinkers.
This playful, narrative-based learning experience encourages students to investigate STEAM concepts while contributing to literacy, math, and social-emotional skills development. It uses Minifigures, with different characteristics and personalities, to make problem-solving relatable to all students through standards-aligned learning units. Icon- and word-based block coding with simple hardware – including an intelligent two-port Hub, motors, a Light Matrix, and a Color Sensor – help students bring their creations to life. A variety of age-appropriate tools helps students develop into independent STEAM thinkers as their learning progresses from grade to grade. SPIKE™ Essential is accompanied by a comprehensive professional development program.
Why SPIKE™ Essential ?
- Develop computational thinking skills, including creating and modifying sequences, testing, debugging, and using loops.
- Explore the engineering design process, including defining a problem, brainstorming solutions, and testing and refining prototypes.
- Investigate the scientific concepts of energy, energy transfer, and collision.
- Strengthen oral communication skills as students discuss their experiences collaboratively.
- Engage in narrative-based problem-solving.
- Develop social-emotional language by helping a main story character solve a problem.
What’s in the Box ?
- LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential Set
- LEGO® Technic™ Color Sensor
- LEGO® Technic™ Small Angular Motor
- LEGO® Technic™ 3×3 Color Light Matrix
- LEGO® Technic™ Small Hub
- LEGO® Technic™ Small Hub Battery
Lesson Plans
SPIKE™ Essential offers 5 curriculum units for primary school students in grades 1–5. Each curriculum unit includes lesson plans and teaching resources for 7-8, 45-minute lessons (including an open project is 2 x 45 min). Additionally, each lesson includes 30+ minutes of language arts or math extensions. Therefore, each curriculum unit contains a total of 6–10 hours of educational content.
The SPIKE™ App
The SPIKE App is a student-facing app that can be used with both SPIKE Essential and SPIKE Prime to follow and complete lessons. The app includes “getting started” material, lessons, building instructions, and a series of coding experiences that progress from icon- and word-block coding based on Scratch to text-based coding based on Python.
FAQ
What is the target age group?
SPIKE Essential is designed for lower and upper primary school students ages 6+. The target age group may vary between countries because country-specific curriculum needs determine where each lesson is mapped.
What is the recommended number of students per set?
As with all of the LEGO® Learning System solutions, we recommend one set for every two students in a classroom setting.
Is SPIKE Essential meant to replace WeDo 2.0?
SPIKE Essential is part of the new LEGO® Learning System. It targets a broader age group than WeDo 2.0, and it’s the foundation of the LEGO® Education portfolio for primary schools.
How do I start using SPIKE Essential with my students?
Please visit LEGO® education.com/start and follow the SPIKE Essential onboarding guide for your unit grade band.