Copying Lego Structures (CS29)

Learning Scenario Description
Title	Copying Lego Structures
Creator	JYU
Length	90 minutes (2 x 45 minutes)
Main idea/description	The students are told about computer languages and how they have to be exact instructions, or the program doesn’t know how to handle them. The activity is designed to make students to understand the importance of unambiguous instructions.
Target group	3rd-6th grade
Curriculum/learning subjects	Languages, Mathematics, Computer Science
Competencies	The students will learn problem identification, problem solving and develop their social skills
Teachers’ wellness competences	TC4. Social e-competency
Learning Scenario Framework
Pedagogical method	PI3. Enforcing attention and Awareness (Be attentive and aware)
Software/materials	For this assignment, it is important to enable teacher-student and student-student communication in online delivery. Thus, online conferencing (e.g., Zoom) can be advantageous because it gives the teacher the ability to assign the students into pairs and it is possible for the teacher to visit different rooms to follow the progress of the students. Having a video connection is not necessary for this task, because the students should verbally describe their structure. The students can also show the finished structure e.g., through a webcam or take a picture of it and compare it to the model. However, video connection can make it easier for the students to compare their structures together. Because this task is intended to be fun and engaging for the students, it is important that technology use does not make the process tedious. The teacher should use digital tools that are familiar to their students or otherwise very easy to use. Because the task itself does not require continuous attention to the screen, the students should have the alternative of not looking at the screen while doing the task. Other materials needed: Lego or Duplo blocks (other similar blocks can also work, as long as they are colorful and have different shapes and attachment possibilities). This exercise can leverage blocks that are found at the homes of the children themselves.
Evaluation tools	The teacher can evaluate how well the students are able to produce the intended structures. The students can take pictures of their finished structures for the teacher.
Learning Scenario Implementation
Learning activities	Learning Activities (Description, duration, worksheets): The students work in pairs with the aim to replicate a lego construction, with the help of team work and verbal instruction. The following video explains the exercise (in-person): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLYsqyKILm4 Introduction The students are told about computer languages and how they have to be exact instructions, or the program doesn’t know how to handle them. The activity is designed to make students to understand the importance of unambiguous instructions. Αctivity 1 Pair up the students. The students cannot see each other at this point. The other one has a pile of legos in front of them. The other gets a lego structure from the teacher. The student with the structure gives verbal instructions to the other one to build an exact copy. (this takes 10-15 minutes and depends on the complexity and number of pieces of the model) *Discussion:* When the copy is ready, the pair informs the teacher and they can take a good look at it together. Talking points: – What went wrong and why? – What parts took time to instruct? – Are the copies similar? – Are all the parts correct? – Is the handedness correct on every piece? – Is the color correct on all pieces? Then the more important part: – How could these be improved? – Should they name the parts beforehand together? – Should they agree on color and shade names? – What else? (5-10 minutes) Αctivity 2 Students change roles and are given a different structure to copy. (10-15 minutes). If groups are getting ready early and there’s time left, they can mix up pairs or do structures to copy for other groups. If there’s more time, students can continue with more difficult structures.