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.

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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.