LEGO® products as a Function of Anthropology...
(a) Homo Faber ( Man the Designer ) ( Man the Maker )
(b) The Irresistible Invitation to Create. It is impossible to keep your hands off a pile of LEGO® products.
(c) Play is the WORK of Children...All higher-level animal young develop life skills through PLAY. He who plays best, survives longest! Yet man-the-adult denigrates Child-Play. Man is the only animal that tries to teach its young by LECTURE...The man-child who can learn by PLAY ( hands-on experiences ) becomes a better adult.
LEGO® products as a Function of Art...
(a) Abstract Designs
(b) Kinetic Artwork
(c) Use of color, shape, size, proportion, symmetry.
(d) When a Model 'speaks' to the designer it is completed.
LEGO® products as a Function of Biology...
(a) Form Follows Function ( Rule of 'Mother Nature' )
(b) Six-Legged Walker ( Study of Insect Movement )
(c) Arachnid Walker ( Study of Spider Movement )
(d) The Paranoid Robot Insect Project ( Insect Brain )
(e) DNA Modelling
LEGO® products as a Function of Challenge...
(a) Build a Machine, entirely of LEGO® Elements, that can pull a 2000 pound vehicle.
(b) Build a model of an ancient Chinese roof that will support the total body weight of the builder and then calculate the weight distribution throughout the model.
LEGO® products as a Function of Communications...
(a) Verbal Communication. Note: Verbal descriptions of a LEGO® element by type ( brick, beam, plate, etc ), dimensions ( size....2x4 brick etc ), color, function ( what it DOES ), assembly Q & A
(b) Written Communication. With LEGO®-LOGO applications ( spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax )...if it isn't absolutely correct it won't run!
(c) Giving and getting information and instructions.
(d) Deaf Building ( Signing with the American Manual Alphabet ).
(e) Share your respect for accuracy and the clear and concise use of the English Language!
LEGO® products as a Function of Death...
Yes there is a life after disassembly! Students who cling tenaciously to "No Disassemble" need to be handled with generous doses of TLC. Why disassemble? Disassembly is a NEGATIVE ACT...It must be made a positive activity!
(a) Recycle Parts
(b) Share parts with another student who may need a part that is in your project.
(c) Build something different, something new, something better.
LEGO® products as a Function of Design...( Building )
(a) Structure
(b) Symmetry
(c) Scale
(d) Stress
LEGO® products as a Function of Applied History...
(a) Modelling Ancient Structures ( History of Architecture )
(b) Modelling Ancient Machines (History of Machines )
(c) Modelling Leonardo's Inventions ( Or maybe Buckminster Fuller's???-R )
(d) Modelling Stonehenge
(e) Modelling the Inventions of al-Jazari ( See Scientific American May 1991, National Geographic May 1991 )
Note...this use of LEGO® products is a very rich and exciting way to study History. Start with the machines of an era/nation and then research into the reasons for such inventions.
LEGO® products as a Function of Ideaware...
(a) Professional Ideaware---With LEGO® Kits come plans and plans provide a rich source for insight and new ideas.
(b) Shareware or Freeware Ideas---Someone builds and is willing to share his ideas with others.
(c) Crippleware Ideas---Someone shares only certain parts of his project and jealously guards other.
(d) Deamware Ideas---Someone makes something and you are expected to figure it out for yourself.
(e) Crudware Ideas---Someone makes something and you decide that it is not something you can use.
Note--- Idea Shoppers can be recognized quite easily by the questions they ask: How did you do that? How does this work? What does this do? Why did you put that there?
LEGO® products as a Function of Infinity...
There is an infinite number of possible combinations when building with LEGO® products because the primary ingredient, a child's creative imagination is infinite...
LEGO® products as a Function of Learning...
Reflecting on the world about them...
'How things work'
'How things look'
'How I fit into the picture'
LEGO® products as a Function of Applied Mathematics...
(a) Gear Ratios ( + - * / ) Gear Relationships
(b) Building to Scale
(c) Geometry ( Euclid's Cube )
(d) Young Children: LEGO® Number & Math Function Bricks
(e) Algebraic Expressions ( Effort Formula for Levers )
(f) Number Systems: Base Two, Base Eight, Base Ten )
(g) Differential Adding Machine ( +/- Integers )
LEGO® products as a Function of Measurement...
(a) Fabricated to Metric Standards.
(b) Weights ( Mass ) 54 grams
Note:Scientists around the world use the Metric System and so should we. PCS also uses 24 hour clocks instead of the A.M. and P.M. Standard.
LEGO® products as a Function of Need...( MacGivorism )
(a) Holographic Table
(b) Acid-bath Shaker
(c) Accurate Computer Plotter
(d) Laser Mirror Spinner
(e) Doorstop Wedges
LEGO® products as a Function of Organizational Skills...
(a) Sorting ( Classifications )
(b) Organization of Elements
(c) Data Base Management ( DBM )
LEGO® products as a Function of Applied Physics...
(a) Levers
(b) "Boppin' Bob"
(c) Mechanical Advantage
(d) Pulleys
(e) Scales---Roberval Enigma
(f) States of Energy----potential & Kinetic---->Flywheel
LEGO® products as a Function of Child Psychology...
(a) Reality Therapy ( See Dr William Glasser )
(b) Play Therapy
(c) Control Therapy
LEGO® products as a Function of Interpersonal Relationships...
(a) Teamwork
(b) Sharing
(c) Communications
(d) Caring
(e) Brainstorming
(f) Feelings ( Self and Others )
Note: ADULT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS....
Too often we deal with children in a mannerthat makes light of their world. We try to bring/drag kids into the Adult World..."Grow up, quit acting like a child." When we treat with disrespect the very world that a child cherishes we negate the child. True teaching requires that we 'ask' to become a part of
THEIR WORLD. LEGO® products make this asking/granting activity quite easy...When a child sees a 'significant adult' loving the act of 'playing with LEGO® products,' the child readily accepts that adult into their world. That adult has DEMONSTRATED that he/she sees value in a part of their world and in fact, takes a part of the child's world into their adult world! It becomes very easy thereafter, for that adult to relate a part of the Adult World THROUGH the understandings of the Child World. Both parties to this activity come away winners. The child has been respected and valued by that 'significant adult.' The adult has been able to share something of his/her world with the child, thus perpetuating the educational/learning process.
For this reason, my Unix email signature reads:
Patrick McShane...LEGO® Maniac
I'm NOT Old...I'm Just a Recycled Kid!
LEGO® products as a Function of Self Affirmation...
Observe a child's YES ( gesture ) as a project just completed...Nothing more needs to be said except that in such situations a child will build his own Self-Esteem as long as he has affirmation from from at least one 'significant other.' Teachers should not praise the child directly but rather praise the child's project. It is through the project that the child is affirmed.
LEGO® products as a Function of Sodium Pentathol ( Truth Serum )...
When two or more students are building with LEGO® products, a flood of conversation is released. Sometimes it is idle chatter but for the most part a careful listener can learn more about their lives in one hour than a counselor can learn in several probing sessions. Listen to what the children are REALLY saying.
LEGO® products as a Function of System Integration...
(a) Mechanical Engineering
(b) Computer Programming ( Logo )
(c) Micro-Robotics
(d) Micro-Robotics + Personal Science Lab or AcuLab
(e) Technology Education
LEGO® products as a Function of Thigmotaxis...
'Personal Space' barriers come down. This is a natural response to sharing on a deeper level. LEGO® products are the Great Equalizer.
LEGO® products as a Function of Symbolic Logic...
(a) Conversion of binary numbers to gray numbers to solve the Chinese Rings Puzzle
or the 'spinout' puzzle.
(b) Teaching the following LOGIC GATES: AND, OR, NOR, NOT NAND and the creation
of the related TRUTH TABLES.
LEGO® products as a Function of Effecting Change...
Dare a man to say "I'm too young!" PCS discoveries include the PCS Differential and the Exploding Space Shuttle.
LEGO® products as a Function of Dreaming...
When kids are building, especially 'out of their minds,' they are dreaming dreams and making them 'real' and alive through their LEGO® models.
LEGO® products as a Function of Geology...
(a) Plate Tectonics
(b) Topology and Land Formations
LEGO® products as a Function of Chemistry
Molecular Modelling |
