Students' understanding of how robotic light sensors work is reinforced in a design challenge involving LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots and light sensors. Working in pairs, students program LEGO robots to follow a flashlight as its light beam moves around. Students practice and learn programming skills and logic design in parallel. They see how robots take input from light sensors and use it to make decisions to move, similar to the human sense of sight. Students also see how they perform the steps of the engineering design process in the course of designing and testing to achieve a successful program. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post quizzes are provided.

Students' eyes are opened to the value of creative, expressive and succinct visual presentation of data, findings and concepts. Student pairs design, redesign and perform simple experiments to test the differences in thermal conductivity (heat flow) through different media (foil and thin steel). Then students create visual diagrams of their findings that can be understood by anyone with little background on the subject, applying their newly learned art vocabulary and concepts to clearly communicate their results. The principles of visual design include contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity; the elements of visual design include an awareness of the use of lines, color, texture, shape, size, value and space. If students already have data available from other experiments, have them jump right into the diagram creation and critique portions of the activity.

Students learn more about how light sensors work, reinforcing their similarities to the human sense of sight. They look at the light sensing process incoming light converted to electrical signals sent to the brain through the human eye anatomy as well as human-made electrical light sensors. A mini-activity, which uses LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT intelligent bricks and light sensors gives students a chance to investigate how light sensors function in preparation for the associated activity involving the light sensors and taskbots. A PowerPoint® presentation explains stimulus-to-response pathways, sensor fundamentals, and details about the LEGO light sensor, including its two modes of gathering data and what its numerical value readings mean. Students take pre/post quizzes and watch a short online video. This lesson and its associated activity enable students to gain a deeper understanding of how robots can take sensor input and use it to make decisions via programming.

This is an online inventory based on the work of Richard M. Felder and Linda K. Silverman. The quiz will determine preferences on four dimensions (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal, and sequential/global).

This site includes the inventory, explanations of each of the areas, FAQs, applications of the learning styles, interesting articles including one on "Understanding Student Differences", and the validity of learning styles is explored.

**Make sure you open the 4 page "Learning Styles and Strategies" link after you take the inventory. This includes insightful information on how you can use the results to help yourself!**

It is important to know your learners, and for learner's to know themselves if they are to learn successfully. Knowing how you learn best (with your eyes, ears or hands) will greatly help students do their best learning!

Having a variety of inventories makes it easier to revisit this each year without having to do the same inventory over and over.

This includes online and printable inventories as well as tips for studying and a student-led discussion activity are included.

This resource is a series of posters that can be used for Middle Years and High School Physical Education.

Do you know how you learn? Take this quiz to determine your learning style.

Visit the "about" tab for videos and more information about VARK.

Take the actual inventory under the "questionnaire" tab. Note that there are different versions for young people and teachers available.

Last but not least, go to the "using VARK" tab to learn how to integrate VARK into your teaching or learning practice. There are also role playing scenarios available.

**Make sure you explore the strategies listed that apply to you under the "questionnaire" tab after you complete teh inventory. It provides information that will help you learn better.**

Students learn the value of writing and art in science and engineering. They acquire vocabulary that is appropriate for explaining visual art and learn about visual design principles (contrast, alignment, repetition and proximity) and elements (lines, color, texture, shape, size, value and space) that are helpful when making visual aids. A PowerPoint(TM) presentation heightens students' awareness of the connection between art and engineering in order to improve the presentation of results, findings, concepts, information and prototype designs. Students also learn about the science and engineering research funding process that relies on effective proposal presentations, as well as some thermal conductivity / heat flow basics including the real-world example of a heat sink which prepares them for the associated activity in which they focus on creating diagrams to communicate their own collected experimental data.