On Legos
We are almost done with the fifth grade lego unit, and surprisingly, I'm sorry to see it end. With the nightmare of finding and organizing supplies behind me, and my fears about the programming being 'too difficult' for a fifth grader, I can enjoy watching them puzzle out their projects.
The project, fitting enough with this winter's weather, is building a snowplow. We have a lego table which is a 4' x 4' square with a black line creating an interior 3' x 3' square. The task is to clear the inner square of 'snow', represented by styrofoam packing material. My intent was to have them use light sensors, building vehicles that would change behavior upon reaching the black line. Many groups have done that, but it has been amazingly rewarding to see the other ideas being tested.
As the project progresses, they need me less and less. They take their ideas to each other, or test them on the table. There is always a group testing, a group patiently rebuilding in the 'pit', where the spare legos are. It is a loud, moving process - they yell to each other across the room, cheer their plows, announce their new ideas. Many plows don't work, or break on the table, but I'm watching them learn to use these failures, to re-evaluate and come up with new plans, and I am very satisfied with this unit.