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LEGO Smart Creativity Contest Entry By ALICE VAN FAROWE, COMPASS HOME SCHOOL
Multiplication is easy & fun with LEGO bricks as a tutor(especially for those dreading math class who would rather doodle)! Learn multiplication by doubling & tripling, then look at the more artful side of math. NOTE: The term "dots" will be used to describe the building surface circles on the bricks. Answers the students give are in (parentheses). Start with Activity 1. Activity 2 is a follow up application. ACTIVITY 1: Multiplication Interactive DEMONSTRATION of 2's or doubling (or skip counting by 2's) WHAT YOU'LL USE FOR THE FULL DEMO: GREEN 4 DOT, ORANGE 8 DOT, YELLOW 8 DOT, RED 8 DOT, BLUE 16 DOT, 2-YELLOW 4 DOT, WHITE 4 DOT, ORANGE 4 DOT. SAY: Find the green piece with 4 dots. We're going to double this green 4 with a different piece. Now find a red piece that is as long as that but twice as wide. The red piece shows that 2x4=8 & that 4x2=8. You reach 8 when you have 2 rows of 4 or 4 rows of 2. WRITE: 2x4=8 4x2=8 SAY: There are 2 more pieces that show this math fact. What are they? (YELLOW 8 DOT & ORANGE 8 DOT) Line up the yellow & orange next to each other. Which piece would fit on top of them both connecting & covering them completely? (BLUE 16 DOT) The blue piece shows that it is the same as 2 8-dot pieces. It is double the 8-dot piece. 8x2=16 & 2x8=16 You can build to 16 with 8 rows of 2 or 2 rows of 8. WRITE: 8X2=16 2X8=16 SAY: You have 2 yellow squares, 1 orange square, and a flatter white one. Cover the top of the blue (Blue 16 dot currently in play) with them. Make sure all of the blue is covered. We haven't doubled anything; we've just covered up what we had. But we used different sized pieces. How many dots are on these new pieces?-4 The orange square has 4 dots; the white piece has 4 dots; and each of the yellow squares has 4 dots. How many sets of 4 do we have? -4 With 4 sets of 4, we have the same number we had before-16. We just counted to 16 differently. We can get to 18 by counting 8 rows of 2, 2 rows of 8, or by counting 4 sets of 4. 4x4=16 WRITE: 4X4=16 FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS: Try 16x3/3x16, 6x8/8x6. FOR EVERYONE: ART CONNECT: SAY: Architects are artists who use math all of the time in order to create designs for buildings. Using the pieces you have now, be an architect & create a building. Think outside the "block" & create something different. Can you create a courtyard? Does your building have more stories on one side than the other? Once you have your basic structure, use other pieces to embellish your design. ACTIVITY 2: Multiplication APPLICATION of 2's or doubling as well as tripling (or skip counting by 2's & 3's) WHAT YOU'LL USE FOR THE FULL ACTIVITY: BLUE 6 DOT, BLACK 12 DOT, GREEN 12 DOT, GRAY 12 DOT, AND ANY 3-4 DOT PIECES SAY: Find the blue piece with 6 dots. Now find the black piece that is as long as the blue one, but twice as wide or double the size. (More advanced students can be told once they have the blue piece to double it.) What is 6 doubled? -12 The black piece shows that when 6 is doubled, you get 12. How many rows of 6 do we need to reach 12? -2 How many rows of 2 do we need to reach 12? -6 We can get to 12 by counting 2 rows of 6 or 6 rows of 2. What math facts can we learn from this? (2x6=12 & 6x2=12) WRITE: Have a student write the math facts 2x6=12 6x2=12 SAY: There are 2 more pieces that show those facts-2x6 & 6x2. What are they? (green 12 & gray 12) Put the green 12 & gray 12 together stacked on top of one another. Now you've doubled 12. What is the double of 12? -24 Which math facts have you just built? (2x12=24 & 12x2=24) WRITE: Have a student write the math facts 2X12=24 12X2=24.SAY: Add your black 12 piece to the top. Now you've done something we haven't done before. You've just tripled the number. Doubling is twice or 2 x the number. It is like counting by 2's. Tripling is like counting by 3's or giving 3 x the number. Which math problems did you just create? (3x12 & 12x3) Three pieces of 12 dots or 3x12. This is the same as 12x3. If we add 12 more to our original 24, what do we get? -36 So 12 tripled is...? -36 And 12x3 or 3x12 equals...? -36 WRITE: Have a student write the math facts on the board. 12x3=36 3x12=36 Have another student write the new terms & what they mean on the board: DOUBLE=X2 TRIPLE=X3 SAY: Use 3 pieces with 4 dots to cover the black 12 dot. What does this show? (4x3=12 3x4=12 4 tripled =12) Now that you have doubled & tripled, what other math facts can you build? FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS: Try representing 12x4/4x12 FOR EVERYONE: ART CONNECT: (TEACHER NOTE: You may want to get some pictures, postcards, or a calendar of cubist paintings to show the class.) SAY: Some modern artists do a style of art called cubism. Picasso made cubism famous. Instead of making pictures look real, artists using cubism let strong shapes-one of the first things you learned in math- represent real life things. They saw something or someone in shapes & put these shapes together to represent that person or thing. Think of a person or thing you can imagine as being made up of different squares & rectangles. Now try to represent your person or thing with a Lego Sculpture. If you are having a hard time starting, draw a picture of it. Make it something simple-an apple instead of a bowl of fruit, a person's face instead of their entire body. Then fill in the picture with the squares & rectangles that you can fit inside of it. Using your drawing as a guide, build it. Legos' multiple colors can be used to make different parts stand out. You can also use Legos different thicknesses & sizes to also make one part stand out from another. Stack part of it higher than the other part to give it dimension. Have fun! If you don't like it, take it apart & try a different object.
Lesson Learned: multiplication (or simplify to skip counting for younger kids), seeing math translated differently by arrangement (ie- 3x4 is the same as 6x2), measurement, using what is mathematical to do something artistic, inspire thinking of math-related artistic occupations or hobbies, can be used independently or with a partner to focus on teamwork, can be done in whole or part but best results & goals are met when used in whole even if over a few days