Today was a great session!
Luke and Zoe learned to use the Lego digital designer today.
The first design challenge was to just build for fun. Zoe chose to build an alien whereas Luke chose to build a tree.
Luke loved the eyes that Zoe added to her design. He also like the textures that she used because she combined both bumpy and smooth pieces. She also added a fireman with a brown coat because her alien was a fire alien.
Zoe loved Luke's tree design because it had branches and different colors. Luke also used a new building technique because he added pieces from below instead of stacking. His tree had opposite branching and Zoe thought it looked like a Palm Tree.
We then took some time to discuss our favorite medical technologies. We made a list of what we liked about each technology.
Zoe liked casts because she wanted to know how to put one one. Luke liked casts because you can add your name to it!
Zoe could not think of what she liked about a wheelchair but Luke knew that he liked electric ones that can move on their own.
Luke liked the fact that ambulances are red and Zoe liked the sounds.
We then shared the things we liked and chose our favorite two technologies. Luke liked a cast and a wheelchair the most and Zoe like the cast and the wheelchair the most too. However, Luke reminded us that he really wanted to learn about cots. Zoe also wanted to learn about cots but she especially liked oxygen tents because her sister needed one when she had the croup.
We then took a break and did a quick build on something healthy. Neither Luke nor Zoe could identify their partner's construction but Luke liked the colors and the mix of textures. Zoe used red, yellow and brown.
Luke's shape was tall and thin and used three colors, gray, white and black.
Zoe then explained that health to her was spaghetti with meatballs and Luke explained that his shape was a tooth brush. They both laughed because their shapes both had to do with mouths.
We then watched a video on how to make a cast to see if this would make us want to learn more about casts.
http://suppliescentral.net/instructions.html
When we finished the video, we were sold. We want to make a lego cast and we will research the important parts of a cast for our next meeting!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Practice Number 2-Working on Medical Devices
Practice was great today! We opened practice with a free build and we reviewed our team norms and construction vocabulary. We reviewed the concept of symmetry, which means that you could fold a design and the two sides would match one another. We also discussed the importance of color because colors can make us think of certain feelings. For example, colors like brown and green make us think of a forest whereas blue and green make us think of the ocean. We also discussed how objects can appear solid because they are made from thick blocks or how objects can appear light because they are made from thin blocks.
During the first build, Luke noticed that Miro placed his light on top of his design so that it would be easy to see. Luke also noticed that Miro successfully integrated two different styles of lego blocks, bionicle and regular.
Miro noticed that Luke used a limited number of colors to make his design and that he liked the empty space. We discussed that empty space is important in a design because it allows light to pass through it and because it allows you to place things inside your design.
We then looked at some medical devices from the Lego. Miro and Luke both correctly identified lots of medical equipment, which started a conversation about what we want to make for our design challenge. The first idea that appeared really exciting was an ambulance.
After this discussion, Luke and Miro worked on designs for a wheel chair. While the boys were building, we talked a little about why someone might be in a wheel chair. The boys said that someone could break a leg, or be born with legs that don't work or you could lose the function of your leg because of a spinal chord injury.
The two constructions were very different form one another, which was exciting. Miro build an awesome wheel chair but the bricks would not allow the wheels to freely spin. We talked about how Miro arrange his blocks differently to allow the wheels to move, which Miro did in no time flat.
Luke's design was limited by the fact that he did not have four wheels. But, Luke made the best of it by designing a ramp for the wheel chair to allow it to slide.
Our next challenge was to build a lego hand. Zoe joined us for this build, which was great because she has fantastic ideas and a positive attitude.
Miro's build was great because it had five different fingers and some of them could slide. The idea of movement was really exciting.
Luke's build was similar to Miro's because Luke had five different fingers but Luke left some legos attached to his design that he did not notice at first. Miro wondered if the additional legos were supposed to represent finger nails. Each of the builders eyes lit up upon the realization that none of them had intentionally added nails to their design. Luke immediately modified his design to include nails.
Zoe's design was the only design to consider a palm. In addition, Zoe focused on the overall shape of the hand and had bricks to suggest fingers.
A
At the end of class, we discussed some of the medical problems that interested us so that we could pick a topic for our challenge. We considered the heart, eyes, ears, legs, arms, bones, teeth and our spinal chord. Our homework for next class is to consider which topic we most want to pursue.
At the end of class, we discussed some of the medical problems that interested us so that we could pick a topic for our challenge. We considered the heart, eyes, ears, legs, arms, bones, teeth and our spinal chord. Our homework for next class is to consider which topic we most want to pursue.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Session 1 Reflection
Wow!
Session 1 was fantastic! The builders made two constructions, selected a name and developed some norms around sharing. The builders also started using Lego Digital Designer and watched a youtube video on a Jr. Fll team.
Our first build was a free build. It did not take long for the sound effects to start animating the lego constructions as the builders placed their constructions immediately into their imaginations. Ryan constructed a really cool house shape that was loaded with color and the bricks he chose gave the construction a solid feel.
James constructed a rocket powered ship that was really fun. The other children struggled with whether to make rocket sounds or laser sounds. The ship was composed of three colors and it used a wide variety of bricks to construct interesting shapes and textures.
Luke constructed a bilateral symmetrical shape with wings and lasers. The ship used a variety of narrow bricks and only the colors red and white.
We then met for a few minutes to discuss our name. We considered a handful of names but ultimately decided on lego bolts because it sounded like lightening bolts and we liked the image and energy of lightening bolts.
Our second build was focused on making something that felt fast. Ryan made two designs that have inverse color relationships. This was so cool. Again, he used pretty think bricks to make solidly constructed shapes.
James made a tree car with rubber tires, a windshield and bright yellow colors.
Luke used two narrow layers of thin bricks to construct a winger craft with a pilot.
In this picture, Luke is documenting his construction.
In this image, Luke and Ryan are working together to learn about the Lego Digital Designer.
Session 1 was fantastic! The builders made two constructions, selected a name and developed some norms around sharing. The builders also started using Lego Digital Designer and watched a youtube video on a Jr. Fll team.
Our first build was a free build. It did not take long for the sound effects to start animating the lego constructions as the builders placed their constructions immediately into their imaginations. Ryan constructed a really cool house shape that was loaded with color and the bricks he chose gave the construction a solid feel.
James constructed a rocket powered ship that was really fun. The other children struggled with whether to make rocket sounds or laser sounds. The ship was composed of three colors and it used a wide variety of bricks to construct interesting shapes and textures.
Luke constructed a bilateral symmetrical shape with wings and lasers. The ship used a variety of narrow bricks and only the colors red and white.
We then met for a few minutes to discuss our name. We considered a handful of names but ultimately decided on lego bolts because it sounded like lightening bolts and we liked the image and energy of lightening bolts.
Our second build was focused on making something that felt fast. Ryan made two designs that have inverse color relationships. This was so cool. Again, he used pretty think bricks to make solidly constructed shapes.
James made a tree car with rubber tires, a windshield and bright yellow colors.
Luke used two narrow layers of thin bricks to construct a winger craft with a pilot.
In this picture, Luke is documenting his construction.
In this image, Luke and Ryan are working together to learn about the Lego Digital Designer.
Session 4 Homework
Digital Designer Prototype
We chose to work on ________________.
We picked ______________ for our technology.
We are not building a lego form of our technology. Build your lego model.
(Ask your parents to take a picture of it an upload it to our blog.)
Please make a plan for how to build your lego model using lego digital designer.
(Ask your parents to upload the file to our blog.)
Session 3 Homework
Research Technology to Fix ________________
We want to know more about the machines that help doctors fix _____________
List three machines you that help fix______________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Pick your favorite machine, and find three pictures of how it is used.
(Ask your parents to help you by going to the library or using the internet.)
(Ask your parents to upload the pictures to our blog)
Sesion 2 Homework
Research Our Topic
We want to know more about ____________.
Write three things you already know about __________.
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Find three ways doctors help people fix _____________.
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Find some pictures of how doctors fix ________________.
(Ask your parents to help you by going to the library or using the internet.)
(Ask your parents to upload the pictures to our blog)
Session 1 Homework
We want to know more about how to fix our bodies when they break.
List how a body can break.
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Which is most interesting to you and why?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Can you think of any ways doctors help people fix a broken body?
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
Find some pictures of how doctors might fix a broken body.
(ask your parents to help you by going to the library or using the internet)
(Ask your parents to upload the pictures to our blog)
Schedule and Plan
Jr. Fll Team Schedule
Welcome to Jr. First Lego League (FLL)! I am so excited to be sharing this time with you and to mentor your growth as a designer, builder and responsible citizen. Our school is the only Jf. FLL team in Vermont and we are the first Jr. FLL team in Vermont.
Jr. FLL will meet weekly, on Thursdays from 4-5:15, starting the first week of December. Each student should bring with them a bunch of legos, in a labeled container such as a zip lock bag or tupper ware container. We will be using these legos throughout our sessions together. Students should also bring a journal and a pencil or pen to make drawings, make comments and record research.
It would be great if families could download Lego Designer for use at home. http://ldd.lego.com/ If students have a lego mindstorms robotics kit, http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx it would be great to bring it to practice sessions to work on programming behaviors into motors. I am committed to working with groups of students using this technology during Luke’s time at Schoolhouse.
I could use parent support to help arrange transportation for field trips to research and present our project. I could also use parent support to get team shirts designed and printed.
Session 1-Team Building, Serious Play-esthetics, realism, Lego Designer
Monday 11/29
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Jr. Fll, sample projects and posters
4:10-4:20 Work together to draft norms for our team
4:20-4:40 Serious Play-build a happy or a scary project
4:40-5:00 Lego Digital Designer-Build a happy or scary project
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
Session 2-Medical Technology/Problems Research, Serious Play-
Thursday 12/9
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Lego References on Biomedical Engineering, Possible Problems to solve with technology, assign research projects
4:10-4:20 Exploration of Chicken Hearts
4:20-4:40 Serious Play-Build a model heart
4:40-5:00 Lego Digital Designer-Build a model heart
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
HW Research Topics
Session 3-Select a Problem, Team Shirt Designs, Serious Play-
Thursday 12/16
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Lego References on Biomedical Engineering
4:10-4:20 Research Presentations
4:20-4:40 Accept a Project, Assign Additional Research
4:40-5:00 Serious Play-Programming with Mindstorms Dancing Robot
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
HW Research Our Topic
Session 4-Select a Technology, Serious Play
Thursday 12/16
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Lego References on Biomedical Engineering
4:10-4:20 Research Presentations
4:20-4:40 Accept a Project, Assign Additional Research
4:40-5:00 Serious Play-Programming with Mindstorms Dancing Robot
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
HW Research Technology on Our Topic
Session 5-Build Prototype Project
Monday 12/20
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Lego References on Biomedical Engineering
4:10-4:20 Proposal Presentations
4:20-4:40 Accept a Proposal
4:40-5:00 Build Prototypes, assign lego digital designer homework
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
HW Digital Designer Prototype
Session 6-Build Final Draft of Project
Thursday 1/6/11
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Lego References on Biomedical Engineering
4:10-4:20 Prototype Presentations
4:20-4:40 Accept a Prototype
4:40-5:00 Build Final Draft, lego digital designer
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
HW Poster Ideas
Session 7-Make Poster
Thusday 1/13/11
4-4:10 Media Presentation of Lego References on Biomedical Engineering
4:10-4:20 Prototype Presentations
4:20-4:40 Accept a Prototype
4:40-5:00 Build Final Draft, lego digital designer
5:00-5:10 Circle and Sharing (what I noticed about others, what made me proud)
HW Practice Answering Questions
Session 8-Present Poster and Project
TBD – Location TBD
Present Poster
Present Project
Party-Slide Show and Awards
Research a Topic
Lego Bolts!
Students at The Schoolhouse formed the Junior First Lego League Team (Jr. FLL) so that they could enjoy building legos and solving problems together in a cooperative and rich learning environment. The team is the first of its kind in Vermont but it hopes to inspire other area schools to form their own teams. It is not surprising that The Schoolhouse is the first school in Vermont to have such an offering because parents are empowered to develop programs for their children and because Schoolhouse recently restructured and develop a five year vision with 21st century technology at the forefront of its mission.
I worked to restructure Schoolhouse as a Board Member and he created the team to help fulfill the vision of the school. I have taught math and science for 14 years and I hope to integrate a number of important technologies into our team. For example, the builders will learn to take digital photographs and video of one another and to document their work and discussions. Builders and their guardians will work together to learn how to use the internet to collect pictures and information to post onto the blog. Builders will also learn to use the Lego Digital Designer to construct designs digitally and in three dimensions. Finally, the builders will develop a media presentation of their work and publish it on this blog.
Jr. FLL teams form annually throughout the world to work on the same problem, which is developed by Lego in partnership with engineers from some of the most prominent firms in the world. The teams generally meet after-school and are organized by community groups such as the Boy Scouts, Four H and so on. Teams are capped at six so that each member of the team can participate actively in the project. The six students that compose the Lego Bolts are aged between 6 and 11, and represent the communities of Westford, Winooski, South Burlington and Burlington.
The Lego Bolts will meet 8 times between December 2010 and January 2011 in order to work on their design challenge, Body Forward. The students are tasked with researching a medical condition and designing a lego construction that would address the medical condition. The students then present their work at a Jr. FLL event where other teams and judges can experience their construction.
I worked to restructure Schoolhouse as a Board Member and he created the team to help fulfill the vision of the school. I have taught math and science for 14 years and I hope to integrate a number of important technologies into our team. For example, the builders will learn to take digital photographs and video of one another and to document their work and discussions. Builders and their guardians will work together to learn how to use the internet to collect pictures and information to post onto the blog. Builders will also learn to use the Lego Digital Designer to construct designs digitally and in three dimensions. Finally, the builders will develop a media presentation of their work and publish it on this blog.
Jr. FLL teams form annually throughout the world to work on the same problem, which is developed by Lego in partnership with engineers from some of the most prominent firms in the world. The teams generally meet after-school and are organized by community groups such as the Boy Scouts, Four H and so on. Teams are capped at six so that each member of the team can participate actively in the project. The six students that compose the Lego Bolts are aged between 6 and 11, and represent the communities of Westford, Winooski, South Burlington and Burlington.
The Lego Bolts will meet 8 times between December 2010 and January 2011 in order to work on their design challenge, Body Forward. The students are tasked with researching a medical condition and designing a lego construction that would address the medical condition. The students then present their work at a Jr. FLL event where other teams and judges can experience their construction.
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