LEGO® System A/S is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It is best known for the manufacturing of Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. Over the years, LEGO® has branched out to launch products such as Coding Express, Steam Park, BricQ Motion Prime, BricQ Motion Essential, and Spike™ Prime.
LEGO® materials are a great platform for introducing young children (ages 5 to 15) to scientific and engineering concepts. The company has even found immense success in its operations within Dubai in the Middle East.
A robot is a machine – especially one programmable by a computer, capable of carrying out a complex series of actions when instructed by someone. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control can be within.
Since the world moves forward every day in the field of robotics, our children need to be aware and comfortable with the prospect of robots. In the future, there will be a day where robots will rule our day-to-day activities, and we would be highly dependent on them to run the show. To work towards this goal and mindset, LEGO® Education brings to you the first-ever robot that can be built by kids to perform “breakdancing”.
How to build the Break Dancer
Team up:
To build one of these robots from scratch, any two classmates can work together. The first student will work on the ‘top-half’ of the Break Dancer robot, while the second kid will work on the ‘bottom-half’ of the Break Dancer. It is important for all kids to be able to see the big picture. Working on individual halves, and then coordinating to combine the other part of the robot, will teach kids to cooperate and work together.
Synchronization:
To sync movement is to make sure that every action of the robot follows the rhythm. Things to sync up while building the robot are namely – the movement of the legs, movement of the arms, blinking pixels of lights on the Light Matrix, and tuning different sounds & notes. Adding an extra motor and an ultrasonic sensor will give your students more opportunity to sync like movements of a third element, and blinking of the Distance Sensor light.
Understanding the related concepts:
Building this robot is great, but the learning that emulates from building the robot Is of great advantage to students. With this activity comes many others hand-in-hand such as Dancing, Music, Health Science, Physics, Medicine, and Computer literacy. With regards to dancing, make sure the kids understand the concepts of rhythm, timing, and synchronization. Music brings along the concepts of polymetric rhythms and different rhythm structures. Health Science brings with it the need for students to get some exercise at regular intervals to maintain their body and health. Physics brings with it the function of a motor and its control using different units (e.g: motor run for seconds, for degrees, for rotations). With Medicine comes the dangers of students sitting in for long lectures and giving up on the physical activity and risking future problems such as muscle atrophy. Computer literacy skills include learning different coding languages and working together to fix bugs.
Assessment:
LEGO® Education brings out the best in children when they provide them with free reigns to choose their path to education. Building a robot and then assessing it is a part of the learning process. Students can assess their robot’s success by ticking points on the teacher-observation checklist, or use the self-assessment or peer assessment tools, to reach the desired level of understanding offered while constructing the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime ‘Dancing Robot’.
So, are you wearing your dancing shoes already? Cause, soon it’s going to be showtime! To learn more about the availability of LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime set in GCC or UAE, visit our website.