LEGO

[Bob_VT]

Hey Lego people I saw this and thought you would enjoy it. It's a C&P from the local paper.

Conference turns LEGO high-tech

October 24, 2008

By Josh O'Gorman Herald Staff

RUTLAND HERALD
WOODSTOCK — One block at a time, teachers are giving their students the pieces they need to excel in math, science and problem solving.

Woodstock Union Middle School hosted the Northern New England LEGO Engineering Conference on Thursday, drawing 45 educators from Vermont, New Hampshire and New York to learn how they can use LEGO in their classrooms.

LEGO Robotics has 13 different levels of programming to serve students in elementary school through college, said Tom Barrowman, LEGO education representative for New England.

Students build motorized robots out of LEGO blocks and then use a computer to program it to perform various tasks, from simple movement — such as a car following a track — to tasks far more complex, such as plotting a graph. At more advanced levels, Barrowman said, programs utilize the same software that controls the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

"The LEGO is a great tool because it takes that fear of math and science and gives people something they're familiar with," said Kevin Staszowski, program manager for Tufts University, which developed the LEGO Robotics software. During conferences like the one on Thursday, Staszowski said, teachers receive a set of LEGO blocks and are encouraged to just get comfortable with the programs.

Rick Dustin-Eichler, technology curriculum specialist for Woodstock Central Supervisory Union, is already comfortable. Six years ago, he began teaching LEGO Robotics at Bridgewater Village School and this year began teaching a more advanced class at Woodstock Union High School.

"It's amazing what you can do with it," he said. "You can do everything from programming a car to move for two seconds to an X-Y plotter that will scan a person's face and draw it."

"It really integrates linear graphing and computer programming," said Amy Ladabouche, fifth-grade teacher at Sherburne Elementary School in Killington. "It brings mathematical and engineering concepts to life."

Last year, Ladabouche said, her students programmed a car to move a certain distance and also did a unit on gear ratios, in which students created a gear ratio of 216-to-1, making the cars move very slowly.

While Ladabouche and other teachers sat at computers and practiced programming their robots, some of Dustin-Eichler's high school students circled the room offering assistance.

"When I found out the class was happening, I was pretty excited," said Robert Barrows, 17, of Brownsville, who described himself as a "math and science person."

"I like programming," he continued. "Thing is, the program is not always going to work, and sometimes there's more than one answer."

Robert's sister, Kristi Barrows, 14, also of Brownsville, said this year she designed a model of a carousel that spun in one direction and when she screamed into a microphone it would reverse direction.

"I definitely think people should start this in elementary school," she said.

While Kristi said she was more interested in English and history than math and science, her class partner, Emily Quinn, 15, of Reading, said LEGO Robotics is preparing her for her future.

"I thought I would learn about programming because that's what I want to do when I grow up," she said.

Emily described a recent project in which she and Kristi built a "line follower," an appropriately named robot that follows a black line drawn on a large white sheet of paper. Emily and Kristi said there was trial and lots of error in the computer programming — which Kristi found most difficult — and the building of the robot, a task Emily found more challenging.

"It's hands-on learning," Emily said. "You are the person telling it what to do."

For Kristi, hands-on learning programs like LEGO Robotics are essential.

"You can't learn this in a regular math class," she said. "You'd get tested and you'd fail."

[BailOut]

Lego Mindstorms is a great learning tool and I'm glad to see it being deployed in a fashion that attracts more kids to science and math.

[KCALB SIRAY]

A+ Bob, great find