Are you LEGO® Smart™? Are your students? Being LEGO Smart is more than building with LEGO® bricks. It’s having the ability to work in teams, solve problems, and create solutions. It means understanding key science, technology, engineering, and math concepts – not just on paper, but through demonstration. LEGO Smart students don’t just know it, they DO it. The sets, software, and curriculum designed by LEGO Education harness the power of the LEGO brick and combine to create learning opportunities for students that will help develop the skills needed for a lifetime of creating, solving, and contributing to a global society. Be LEGO Smart – be the future.
LEGO Smart Creativity Contest Entry By Todd Thuma, Indian River State College
The purpose of this activity is for students to define a language or lexicon for a set number of elements in their LEGO Smart Kit. They will then teach this language or Lexicon to 2 other groups.
1. Divide the students into groups of three students each and dispense a kit to each group. 2. Explain to students that they must randomly pick 10 LEGO bricks from the 20 bricks in their bag. Set aside the 10 bricks they do not select. 3. Students will construct a language to describe each element of the ten selected. Points will be awarded to each team based upon creativity, the ability of their chosen words to describe more than just one element, and the ability of their words to describe the other 10 pieces set aside. 4. Students must write this language or lexicon down into a dictionary type format. 5. After 20 minutes or so, student groups will visit another student group and each will teach their language or lexicon to the group using the bricks they chose and the visiting group’s bricks. Points will be awarded to each group for learning the other group’s language. 6. After 20 minutes or so, the groups will switch and visit a second group to explore the other group’s language and teach their own language. 7. After another 20 minutes, the class will discuss each other's language or lexicon for the LEGO bricks and discuss in group the differences and similarities of each language. What influences did they have in developing their language? Did culture influence their choice of words to use for each element? What parallels can they draw with foreign languages? Is there one language more descriptive than another? Did anyone have any difficulty with another group’s language?
Lesson Learned: Language and slang is an important aspect of a child's education. Children will learn about language, slang and culture through this activity as they work together to develop a lexicon for the LEGO Elements included in there LEGO Smart Kit.
LEGO Smart Creativity Contest By Cyndi Stone, Fort Walton Beach High
Each group (2-4 students per group) should receive identical sets of 10-30 LEGO bricks and a baseplate. Instruct each group to use all LEGO elements to build something creative that must have a name and a job or purpose. All pieces must be used. The LEGO bricks do not have to be used for their intended function. Students will determine that each group had the same pieces to begin with, but each group built something that had a different function and name. This is similar to the way cells behave.
Lesson Learned: Students will understand the concept that cells may have different functions(jobs) although each cell is made of the same components (LEGO elements). They will learn cooperatively in small groups.
LEGO Smart Creativity Contest Entry By Ivey Dietz, Homeschool
The teacher reads out loud a story book full of great characters. The story can be any book that the teacher already has planned to read to the class that day. As the teacher is reading the book the children are allowed to build with their bricks from the LEGO Smart kit. They are to create one of the characters that is from the book. At the end of the story the teacher has each child explain their creation and the character it was based on.
Lesson Learned: Creativity and listening skills are developed as the child creates what he hears from the teacher as she reads. Then public speaking skills are learned at the close of the project.
Break into groups of two. Have the students use both of their LEGO Smart Kits to create a rectangular shaped solid tower using all of the bricks in both kits. The trick is that they cannot have any of the same color brick touching another brick of that color.
Lesson Learned: Team work, problem solving, geometry, and critical thinking are all used in this challenge of LEGO Smart.