The LEGO Robotics Challenge

Six years ago, Ms. Moline, the Lower School Computer Science teacher, introduced the Lego Challenge to the fourth grade curriculum. Small groups of students are presented with the challenge of building a working vehicle that will travel 36 inches, retrieve a golf ball and return to the starting position. This vehicle is constructed with Lego pieces, a touch and light sensor, while the “brick” is later programmed using RoboLab on the computer. The student-designed program starts and stops the motor when the touch sensor is pressed or the lighting changes.

The Lego Challenge was so well received by the students that Ms. Moline worked to expand it. She notes: “This year I was fortunate to bring completed vehicles to the Middle School and complete math/science integration lesson with fifth graders. In this lesson, the light sensor was traded for an angle sensor and students were required to calculate how many times the wheel would need to turn to travel the 36 inches, then stop automatically. In addition, Jennifer Kelley, the Lower School Science teacher, and I are currently developing a simple machines unit that will expand working with Legos to second grade students as they build simple machines with specialized Lego building kits.”

The Lego Challenge is now also taking place at the Upper School in Mark Whipple’s Lego elective class.