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SPIKE Essential Course: Intermediate
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Teacher Plan

Programming SPIKE Essential in Word Blocks: Intermediate Course

SPIKE Essential
Are your first robots already on the move? It’s time to give them new abilities! This intermediate LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential programming course helps students develop their coding skills with Word Blocks through hands-on robotics projects. Each model reveals how mechanical design and code work together.
Program motors, respond to sensor readings, and coordinate multiple scripts. Use loops, variables, and conditional statements to bring robots to life as they draw patterns, sort bricks, count laps, and react to their surroundings.
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Available as a standalone course, or in Teacher and School plans.
Contents Requirements

The course includes 25 robotics lesson plans for students with some experience of building and programming robots. Each SPIKE Essential project introduces new challenges and opportunities to practise block-based coding with Word Blocks. Every lesson includes:

  • an extensive introduction illustrated with photos and animations,
  • detailed building instructions for a LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential robot,
  • step-by-step programming instructions using Word Blocks in the SPIKE app,
  • helpful cutaway views of robot mechanisms,
  • access to additional teaching resources.

Lesson plans

OWL
How can you bring paper wings to life? Build an owl with a cam mechanism and program the motor that makes its wings flap. Change the speed and discover how a robotic model can imitate the movement of birds.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
SPINNING TOP
Give your spinning top a powerful start! Build a launcher with a belt transmission and friction drive, then program three motor speeds. Test how rotational speed affects the top's balance and how long it keeps spinning.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
GANTRY CRANE
A heavy load needs moving. Build a gantry crane with a moving trolley and a hoist, then program both motors. Choose their direction and range of motion to lift cargo and move it precisely where it needs to go.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
G-FORCE CENTRIFUGE
Prepare an astronaut for g-force training. Build a centrifuge with a tilting cabin and see how changing motor speed affects its position. Use timer events to stop the motor and end the training at the right moment.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
HORSE
This horse gallops to music! Build a mechanism that turns motor rotation into a rocking motion and brings your robotic steed to life. Use messages to trigger movement and sound in separate scripts within the same program.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
SPIROGRAPH
What can two motors and a pen draw together? Build a spirograph with a rotating base and a swinging pen arm. Change motor speed and direction to create new patterns, then use a timer to control how long your robot draws.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
CRAB
Two motors set this crab's legs in motion. Build its walking mechanism and program the drives on both sides of its body to work together. Explore how changing their movement makes your robotic crustacean walk straight or turn.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
COSMIC CHASE
Two starships set off on a cosmic chase! Build a moving scene and program laser flashes on the LED matrix with sounds to match. Use messages and random choices to make each new effect a surprise, even for the programmer.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
DRAGSTER
Three, two, one, go! Build a dragster with a friction drive and program a sequence with an onscreen countdown and sounds. Measure the time and distance of each run to calculate your robotic race car's average speed.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
POLYGON TRACER
How many turns does it take to draw a square? Build a driving robot with a pen and program a loop that repeats its movements. Adjust turning angles and the number of repetitions to trace triangles, squares, and other regular polygons.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
PLOTTER
A pen moves sideways while paper travels underneath it. Build a plotter and coordinate two motors to turn these movements into a drawing. Use precise motor control and loops to trace rectangular patterns and zigzags.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
BULLDOZER
Loose bricks are scattered across the arena. Build a bulldozer with front and rear pushers, then program it to drive forward, reverse, and turn in place. Repeat the moves in a forever loop and test how effectively it clears the area.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
MICROMOUSE
A tiny mouse faces a big challenge: finding a route through a maze. Build a driving robot and plan each section of its path. Adjust travel distances and turning angles, then test whether your program can guide the mouse to the exit.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
GORILLA
This gorilla is ready for a banana, but it needs your code to reach it. Build a robotic ape and use the tilt sensor to start and stop its motor. Discover how changing the Hub's position triggers events in your program.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
RESOLUTE GOAT
This stubborn goat refuses to put up with a red flag near its nose. Build a machine that responds when you change the Hub's position. Program a tilt sensor event and see how the motor sets its response mechanism in motion.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
MANIPULATOR
Tilt the Hub to set a robotic arm in motion. Build a manipulator, program its motor to turn in either direction, and stop it by holding the Hub level. Discover how a tilt sensor can take the place of control buttons.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
DRONE
Tilt the model and watch its propellers change speed. Build a drone with friction drives and program two motors to respond to the Hub's position. Compare their speeds to explore how your model simulates aerial maneuvers.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
MOTORCYCLE
How many laps will your motorcycle complete? Build the model and program its motor to set it in motion. Read changes in the Hub's orientation to detect each lap, then store the total in a variable that acts as your lap counter.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
FORKLIFT
A load needs moving, and your robotic forklift is ready to help. Build its lifting mechanism and use a color sensor in the control program. Discover how sensor readings can guide the machine's work as you handle your cargo.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
SORTER
Every colored brick needs a place of its own. Build a sorter and program it to direct objects into the right compartments. Use a color sensor, explore the role of variables, and see how code helps bring order to a pile of bricks.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
MUSIC BOX
Can colors become a melody? Build a music box and program it to play sounds based on color sensor readings. Use conditional statements and separate scripts to connect the movement of its mechanism with the music it plays.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
LIFT
The cabin is moving up, but how does the program know which floor it is on? Build a lift and store its level in a variable. Combine conditions with nested loops to control its journeys and indicate the floor on the LED matrix.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
CAROUSEL
As the carousel spins faster, its seats swing farther outward. Build the model and use motor rotation readings to control its speed. Add conditions to your program and observe centrifugal force as the ride picks up pace.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
FROG
A dragonfly hovers above a hungry frog. Can it escape that long tongue? Build both mechanisms and program the hunt using random choices and an if-then-else condition to make each attack unpredictable.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.
ARCADE GAME
Build an arcade machine where every accurate move earns points. Program the motor, color sensor, and LED matrix to connect the action with the score. Set your own rules, adjust the pace of the game, and put your reflexes to the test.

Robot designed for: LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential (#45345) and SPIKE programming app: Word Blocks.

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