Cross-Curricular Connections with VEXcode VR: Art and Computer Science
Integrating VEXcode VR and computer science (CS) into art curriculum, or art into CS curriculum, can help to engage students with varying interests. The collaboration between technology and art really encourages students to think outside the box and helps to bridge any gaps in interest that students may have between these two subjects. Students who love coding but don’t understand art, and students who love art but are nervous about coding, all get the chance to take their passions and learn something new when you start to incorporate art and CS in the same classroom activities. There are VR Activities that seamlessly blend these two topics to help capture your students’ interest and attention.
Color by Number
Color by Number is a great starter activity to combine coding with art. It challenges students in terms of spatial reasoning, sequencing, and color mixing. Students begin by coding the robot to drive to the various areas of the Playground to color in the area the same color as denoted in the key at the bottom of the Playground. Starting with basic shades like red, black, and green in the beginning levels, students do venture into color mixing, producing shades like orange, yellow, and purple.
While the activity clearly communicates both art and CS concepts, you can lean into the art side through the color-mixing portion of the activity in levels 2 and 3. To emphasize the color-mixing element of the activity, have students first look at the [Fill area with color] block and the values presented there. If they proportionally use the same amount of blue and green, what color will appear? What about if they had a combination with 2/3rds red and 1/3rd blue? Students can then attempt to recreate those shades using paint or another medium and recreate the color by number picture in real life.
Mondrian Patterns
For an activity that has a strong blend of CS and art concepts, Mondrian Patterns is the option I would recommend. This activity pays homage to the famous artist, Piet Mondrian, and brings a historical application into the mix. Students learn about parallel and perpendicular lines of varying widths and use primary colors to fill spaces. The activity can be more complex than the color by number because of the extensive planning and movements of the robot to create the image, and the results are reminiscent of Mondrian's iconic geometric abstracts. From a CS perspective, this activity emphasizes path planning and sequencing as students determine the best way to move around the Playground with their pen and create these geometric designs.
This activity lends itself well to extensions where students can explore other famous artists who use parallel and perpendicular lines or other geometric patterns. Then they can try to create their own art inspired by those artists. This extends the art and CS connection while also encouraging students to think mathematically in terms of the geometric patterns and designs. For an example of this extension, see this image here. This was created in VEXcode VR based on the stained glass artwork famously featured in houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Flower Garden
If you wanted to pull in more about mathematical concepts alongside CS and art, Flower Garden is the activity for you. This more advanced activity takes the CS concepts a bit further from the sequencing and color mixing students do in the previous two examples. The activity challenges students to use a combination of mathematics, art, and CS in order to create flower patterns in VEXcode VR. It really focuses on the use of variables and loops in order to create these patterns similar to those created by a spirograph.
In order to complete the activity, students need to think about all the different types of measurements from the number of petals to the length and angle used for each petal. These all then can be used with variables, as shown here, in order to draw the flower.
Sample Solutions
This image of code was taken directly from one of our sample solutions. You may know what activity you want the students to complete, but not be sure how to get them started or, they may need help to understand how they could apply the concepts they are already familiar with to the project. That’s where sample solutions can come in handy. Inside the Teacher Portal, there are links to solutions for the activities. These can be downloaded as a .zip file or by accessing a Google Drive folder. As is the case with both art and coding, there are multiple ways to solve a problem or to answer a question. So these solutions should be taken as just one of the many possibilities for each activity. If you or your students need the additional guidance for how to get started, referencing one of these solutions as an example is a great option.
These three activities only start to scratch the surface of what's possible when VEXcode VR meets art. Regardless of which subject students may be interested in from the beginning, using VEXcode VR with art activities allows students to engage with art and CS concepts as they creatively solve problems through code. We would love to see examples of art made in VEXcode VR by your students or hear your experiences with bringing this cross-curricular approach to your classroom! Please share all of these with us in the Community!