Did you know that the Lego® brick has an exact birth date and time? On January 28, 1958 at 1:58 p.m. the first patent for Legos was filed.
HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY Legos!
There are many fun ways to incorporate Legos into homeschooling, and you don’t need to be “engineeringly” inclined. The links below have some fun projects for varying ages. The lessons from PEEK at Princeton also provide excellent explanations.
Getting Started WIth Lego®
Lessons
Two comments I hear often about using Legos as part of a science unit......
1. "I don't think we have the right pieces?"
and
2. "I don't know even know what most of the pieces are that we have."
Before you use Legos as a teaching tool, make sure you and your students know are familiar with the pieces and their correct name. This is the first thing I taught on our FIRST Lego team and in robotics workshops.
Check out this parts reference.
If you are in need of specific pieces that are shown in some of the lessons, ask a friend if you can borrow the pieces or check out Bricklink.com. You'll be able to buy any Lego piece you'll need and at a great price.
Lego Resources and Lessons on the Web
If you missed one of the very first Experimental Zone entries on incorporating Legos into an invention unit, you can check it out
HERE. Plus, download the
accompanying lesson.
Lego lesson plans.
Build a rubber band car
Fundamentals of Lego beams and gear lessons
Build a Lego abacus
Looney Lengths – An Introduction to Legos Kindergarten
The Great Lego Pyramids First Grade
2nd grade – Build a Lego Balance
3rd grade – Build a Lego Catapult
See you next week on the Porch!
Michelle
Michelle and her husband have been homeschooling for 10 years and enjoy life in a tiny southern town. They are the owners of Treasure Box Press. Michelle holds a Master's degree in Child Development and Family Studies. She serves as the Judge Advisor for the North Carolina FIRST (www.usfirst.org) Lego League and a judge for the www.FIRST.org World Festival. She is the author of numerous Sam's Science Adventures available through www.TreasureBoxPress.com. She spent 15 years in the biotechnology industry before turning her heart toward home.
Comments
Untitled Comment
Legos are a wonderful homeschool resource! If you are looking for more fun Lego experiments, try searching on YouTube. We've found some very interesting ideas there, including some great stop-frame animation. Just safeguard yourself and remember that you are searching on YouTube and not everything there is appropriate for your kids. Make sure an adult does the searching.
Betty
1Peter1:2b
Love those Legos
9:42 PM, Mar. 17, 2008, posted by
MrsSmile
We love legos too -- we have not done any formal science with them; but maybe we'll start with all those yummy links you've included.
So far we've just explored with the motors or had the children build models for history ... can't wait!
