Introduction to Engineering
June 24th, 2013 by Emily Taintor
Name of Activity | Intro to Engineering | Author | STOMP | Keywords | Introduction to Engineering, Compromise, share, respect, cooperate, evaluate, brick, beam, plate | Subject | LEGO Building | Grade Level | K, 1, 2, 3 | Time | 1 Hour Total | Lesson Objectives: | - Introduce engineering and what an engineer does. | - Assist students in their ability to work with others.
- For students to learn how to plan, share, and discuss ideas, for building a simple structure.
Brief Description | In this activity, students will be introduced to engineering and partner building. Students will work with a partner to build a design of their choice, but must cooperate, discuss, and compromise as part of the challenge. | Materials Needed: | - 20 LEGO pieces in a small plastic bag (one bag for each pair). | - Engineer’s Planning Worksheets.
- Optional – What do Engineers Do book (available at Tufts CEEO).
- Optional – Books about sharing and taking turns (Dandelion Warriors or It’s Mine by Leo Lionni).
For Extensions:
- Extension LEGO kits (10 pieces in a bag for each student).
- Mystery number of LEGO pieces in a bag for students to count and name.
- Mystery pieces students must identify by feel.
Preparation and Set Up: | - Arrange students in pairs. | - Distribute LEGO kits.
- Distribute ‘Engineer’s Planning Worksheets’.
Procedure | Background: To properly refer to LEGO bricks, plates and beams of different sizes count the number of bumps on top of the brick/plate/beam widthwise by lengthwise. A 1 x 4 beam is 1 ridge wide and 4 ridges long. A 2 X 8 brick is 2 bumps wide and 8 bumps long. Procedure: | - Introduce what engineering is and what engineers do, you may want to use picture representations, books, or examples.
- Introduce to the class that they will be exploring engineering through LEGOs
- Talk about the importance of teamwork, sharing and cooperation in engineering and discuss how students might work together by planning, compromising and taking turns.
- Introduce the pieces students will be using in this activity (brick, beam, and plate) and how to name each one and each size (e.g. 2 X 4 Brick).
- You may want to create a worksheet to enforce the naming system.
Introduce the challenge — Tell students that they must use their bag of 20 LEGO pieces to build a structure with their partner. Before you distribute LEGOs , have students plan using their Engineer’s Planning Worksheet (attached to activity).When students have finished, come together as a class. Let each student share their design, one thing they like about it and one problem they had. Ask students how they worked cooperatively with their partners.Extensions or Modifications: | If students are having trouble working together, role model and discuss the following situations with another adult: grabbing pieces, working on separate projects without communicating, arguing | Sample Image 1 | http://sites.tufts.edu/stompactivitydatabase/files/formidable/planning_sheet-1.pdf | Posted in 1 Hour Total, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Kindergarten, LEGO Building | No comments
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