LEGO Education

Physics and LEGO Robotics

Physics? Sure! LEGO MINDSTORMS Education NXT can be used to teach more than just robotics concepts. In fact, Barbara Bratzel has developed "a project-based course that teaches classical mechanics through engineering. It covers motion, forces, fluids, stability, work, and energy. The topics are approached from an engineering perspective, with building and designing reinforcing the conceptual physics material and vice versa." Since the students use NXT (and previously, RXC) sets to design and build robots, and have to program those robots using LEGO programming software, by the end of the course, the students are skilled at programming as a byproduct of the class. If you've seen Bratzel's Physics By Design before, you'll want to take another look at the upated Physics by Design: ROBOLAB Activities for the NXT and RCX. The book has been updated with lots of new activities for the NXT, while still retaining the activities and instructions for the RCX-based robots. The updates are woven in throughout the book, too, not just added on at the end, making this an ideal book to use in a classroom that is gradually transitioning from the RCX-based Team Challenge or RoboTech sets to the MINDSTORMS Education NXT base sets. For more information about the book, and to see a table of contents, you can visit the publisher's information page.

Alternative Programming for the NXT

The LEGO Mindstorms Education NXT is designed to use NXT-G software, and that software is great, especially for younger or more inexperienced students. Some teachers, however, may find they want to use the NXT sets to teach other programming languages. Since LEGO has open-sourced it's firmware, this is possible. Carnegie Mellon has taken advantage of this to create RobotC, a C-based programming environment. It's available from LEGO Education in both single and classroom license versions. For more information, including a quickstart guide, training, support, and a trial download, visit the website: RobotC.net

About FLL

What is FIRST LEGO® League International?

An international program for children ages 9-14 (9-16 in Europe) that combines a hands-on, interactive robotics program with a sports-like atmosphere. Teams consist of up to 10 players with the focus on such things as team building, problem solving, creativity, and analytical thinking. Each September, a new Challenge is unveiled to FLL International teams across the world. Over the course of 8 weeks, they stragegize, design, build, program, test and refine a fully autonomous robot capable of completing the various missions of the FLL International "Robot Game" Using the LEGO MINDSTORMS™ technology. They also search the web, talk to scientists, visit the library and develop compelling presentations based on the FLL International "Research Assignment", which relates to a problem or opportunity facing the world today.

The Values and Philosophy behind FLL International

When children build and experiment, they live the entire process of creating ideas, solving problems, and overcoming obstacles. The FIRST LEGO League International program meets children where they are and helps to shape a positive perception of science and technology. We believe that children’s natural curiosity and creativity are critical qualities to envisioning possibilities and developing innovative solutions to challenging technology problems and opportunities. We therefore strive to strengthen their inherent motivation to learn in new ways.

The above information is taken from www.firstlegoleague.org.

LEGO Education Robotics podcast

The Apple Learning Interchange has posted a podcast recorded during the Texas Computer Education Association conference this past February. Ron Hudson, a technology director for his school, describes how he and other teachers in his school use LEGO Education Robotics to inspire students and teach problem solving skills. The podcast is about 12 and a half minutes long, and includes images from the booth on the conference show floor. Be sure to take the time to visit the site and listen! Apple Learning Interchange: LEGO Robotics podcast