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 LEGOeducation.com/start and follow the SPIKE Essential onboarding guide for your unit grade band.