What a great time we had with our Break Out activity!  The story was "Football Frenzy" and the students had to solve football word problems to figure out the 3 combinations for the locks and find the key for the key lock to break in to the prize box.  Everyone had to work together to solve the puzzles before the timer ran out.  It was wonderful to see the collaboration in evidence and the excitement on the students' faces as each lock came off the box. 

Below are some photos of our fun:

This proved to be the hardest puzzle to solve.  Students had to figure out the word problems and then use a decoder to get the final combination. 

These girls are working on an online puzzle that gave clues to where the key was hidden.

The students tested out different combinations until they found the right one.  

Everyone waited with baited breath as the last lock was removed.

We have been having such fun in LEGO U!  Two weeks ago the students made vehicles for a zip line.  They were able to test out their vehicles and we will work on redesigning them to make them faster in a later session. 

Last week the students made contraptions that would float on water to explore the concept of density.  

Each student had their own tub to test their creations in, then...

...we checked to see if they would float from the desert island to "home".  This week we created a scene for a LEGO mini-figure, presented our creations, and told a story based on the scene.  We had scientists in laboratories, bank robbers stealing gold, and many other wonderfully creative scenes.
There are two more sessions to go!

This week our challenge was to be creative with LEGOS.  The students created structures, vehicles, and story settings.  The students presented their creations to the group.  We were amazed at how detailed the descriptions were. The students really appreciated being given time to create an object of their choice. 

I was finally able to upload some photos.  Above is an example of our first challenge to write one's name with LEGO bricks.  It spells "Vivian".

Our second challenge was to build the tallest "earthquake proof" structure possible with 100 bricks. 

We worked together in groups of two and rebuilt the structures multiple times to make them taller and stronger.  The "earthquake table" is behind the structure above. 

The teams weren't opposed to breaking down the structure to start all over and make it better.  That attitude is critical when problem solving. 

Our apologies, I have not been able to upload the photos to this website due to a change in the system.  We hope to have this problem resolved soon.  For our first challenge the students made their names with LEGO bricks.  On day two the challenge was to make the highest earthquake proof structure possible with 100 bricks.  We used an earthquake table to test it.  The highest structure in our group was 21 inches! 

Welcome to Lego U!

Please visit this site often for updates on our activities.  Below are the dates we will be meeting: 

March 16,23,30; April 6, 20, 27; May 4, 11

Sessions run from 2:50- 3:50 and you may pick up your child in the cafeteria at the end of our session.  Please be prompt. :-) 

We are looking forward to working with your child!

Mrs. Shipley and Mrs. Crofts