LEGO

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a Site for Teachers of English ( as a Foreign Language) for Engineering

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Document #3

HOW TO USE YOUR (CHILDREN'S) LEGO

Do you feel you are too old to play with your old Lego and have you stored it away together with battered toys and the teddy bear you loved so much? Well, even at my age, I still play with it ... at school!

INTRODUCTION

The idea of using Lego in a class of English for Mechanical Engineering came to me when I realised most of my students did not seem to care very much for English unless it was directly connected with their main Subject. They did not seem to want to "learn" English but agreed to "use" (their mediocre) English in situations that simulated engineering as much as possible. Hence, my idea to use Lego to build "machines" about which the students can read and/or write and/or talk .

Note: The Lego set I am using is actually my son's and is now over 20 years old. Since that time Lego has produced new elements which make it possible to build more elaborate and complex "machines". It is true that these new Legos look more attractive, and would certainly enable teachers to create more realistic units, however the basic principle remains unchanged. (Besides, the purpose is neither to manipulate Lego parts nor to build complex toys - or have them built, but to try and teach English by simulating workshop activities in the language classroom.)

A QUESTION OF VOCABULARY

The first thing to do is to supply your students with a list of the Lego parts they will be using, giving each part a distinctive name. You should not hand out the list straightforward but have them work it out so that you can teach a few things on the way (e.g. a 6-pin (no S) brick - a 6-cm diameter wheel / a wheel X cm in diameter / it has a dia of X cm - a 9-cm long bar, etc.)

Here is the list we have come to:

* A thick 20*10-pin base plate is called a base plate
* Bricks - the basic 4*2 brick is just a brick - a 3*2-pin brick: a 6-pin brick - a 2*2 brick: a square brick or a 4-pin brick - 1*2: a 2-pin brick (or a 2-pin bar )- a 1*1 brick: a point -A brick with holes to slip a shaft through : a bearing brick.
* Bars- Wide bars (with 2 rows of pins): long bar - short bar
Narrow bars (with 1 row): 2*1 : 2-pin bar (or 2-pin brick)- 4*1: 4-pin bar - 6*1: 6-pin bar - 8*1 : 8-pin bar
* Plates - Narrow plates (with 1 row) - 1*1 : a little dot - 1*2 : a 2-pin plate - 1*8 : a narrow 8-pin plate
Plates with 2 rows of pins are called plates. There are: 1*2-pin plate: a 2-pin plate or a very small plate - 2*2 : 4-pin plate - 3*2 : 6-pin plate - 4*2 : 8-pin plate - 8*2 : 16-pin plate
Wider plates come in various sizes with no special names: we say a 4*4 plate, an 8*4 plate, etc.
* Toothed wheels are referred to by their diameter as 6 cm dia (toothed) wheel; 5cm dia (toothed) wheel and 3 cm dia (toothed) wheel. We can also refer to them as large (toothed) wheels, medium-sized wheels and small wheels.
* Shafts are called spindles or shafts and we may have: a 3 cm-long spindle/shaft (or a short shaft) - 6.5 cm-long spindle/shaft - 9.5-cm long spindle/shaft (or long shaft)
* Miscellaneous - Stop collars - Handle bars

If you want to build other devices requiring other kinds of parts, don't forget to give them names too.

HOW DO I USE LEGO ?

It can be used for comprehension or expression, both written or oral.

Written comprehension: I hand out a workshheet (Doc # 1 / 1A) to a group of two or three students and they have to build exactly the same machine. Altering the original plan is not allowed. The machines that are devised need not be very complex, but you should try to implement one or two unexpected little features so that the students will not be able to proceed by guessing but will actually have to try and understand what you have written. The exercise must remain a comprehension exercise, the difficulty solely depending on the difficulty of the language you have used.

Written expression with Doc #2 (or any other device you have thought of and that can be built with the kind of Lego you have got). You build a machine (don't make it too complex or else the exercise will be very long - it already takes my students almost an hour to complete the first part of the exercise as it is in Doc #2) which you give to a group of two or three students and their job consists in writing a detailed and accurate description of the machine. (Forbid any plans, drawings, etc; telegraphic English is not allowed either). Once this is done, you correct the grammar ( but nothing else: this is easily done by asking your students to hand in the description on a diskette) and pass the paper/diskette output to a second group whose job will be to build the machine using their friends' instructions. (For this 2nd group, this is written comprehension)

Oral expression and comprehension: (here, you must have enough Lego parts to build two similar "machines"). Use Doc #2 again or something of the sort. Give the machine to a first group (they must keep it hidden from the second group) and ask them to describe orally what they see and instruct the second group for them to build a similar machine. (Of course the second group can ask for clarifications.) You'd better keep close the groups so as to avoid "Tarzan-styled" communication, you know, "good, good, yes... no ... left ...the big 'engrenage'(French word for 'gear')... yes,here..." or even their switching to L1 as soon as you are walking away! (At least, this is the experience I have had.)

AS A CONCLUSION...

I have been doing this for a few years, although not regularly during the school year and not every year because of discipline problems. (With the kind of students I have, especially when working in groups, some become very noisy, and lack attention.) However every time I have been able to use this method , the students have enjoyed it, believing it was more a game than actual school work, but most of them have actually worked hard (much harder than they imagined they would at first).
Now, have they derived anything positive from it ? Well, I don't know, I have never tried to test /assess /grade formally, but it seems to me that, as long as an exercise is carefully supervised, and a student is doing his best and is really engaged in communicating, he cannot but acquire some knowledge. (I hope I am not wrong!)

If some of you decide to take up my idea and (certainly) improve on it, please let me know about what you have done and achieved. Moreover, I am interested in developing simulation activities and I assume some colleagues also have imagined some unexpected strategies: I'd be curious and honoured to hear about them. And of course, they could be uploaded into the databank. Thank you.

DOCUMENT # 1

Note: Doc # 1 and # 1A both refer to the same "machine", the difference being that Doc # 1 is in rather simple English, whereas Doc # 1A is for (a little) more advanced students.

To build the machine, you'll need a large base plate. One of the long sides will be called 'side 'A' , then on your left you have side B, then side C, so that the short D side is on your right.

Let's start with side B, in the BC corner and place a 6-pin brick, and, still along B, a(n 8-pin) brick.
Now let's turn to side C: snap in a 4-pin bar and then a 6-pin bar.
The A side is composed of a square brick followed by two bricks.
Finally, in D, place a 6-pin brick so as to leave a 1-pin wide gap near the D-bar ( CD corner).

Then start work on the second layer starting in C (in the CD corner): you'll stick a 4-pin bar then a 6-pin one and you'll continue by placing a square brick in corner BC. Then comes a 6-pin brick and a 2-pin bar to end up side B.
Side A consists of two bricks, thus leaving a gap in corner AD.
The last side is made up with one brick, placed so as to leave a 1-pin wide gap on either side (= this brick rests on a 3-pin brick and only a part of the AD corner brick.

The third layer will be slightly more complex as it has to be divided into layer 3A and layer 3B.
Let's start with side C: on the top of the bars already positioned, add (in the CD corner) an 8-pin bar, then a 4-pin one. This will be layer 3A and 3B is merely a 2-pin plate placed on the bar in the AC corner.
The next elements to snap on will make up side B: next to the bar, place an 8-pin plate( layer 3A) and a bearing brick exactly on top of it (layer 3B).
Beginning in corner AB, side A comprises two bricks and ends with a 2-pin bar. As to layer 3B, it is simply a 16-pin plate and a 2-pin plate.
To end the work on the third layer on side D, you'll snap in an 8-pin plate, and a bearing brick on top of it (just as you have done on the opposite side).

Now that the framework is almost over, let's have a look at the gear system;
You'll require a long shaft which you start slipping through the middle hole of the B-side bearing brick. When the spindle comes out of the bearing brick, slip a stop collar and then a 3 cm dia toothed wheel. Keep pushing the spindle until it fits into the left hole of the other bearing brick by one or two millimetres.
For the D-side gear, first place a small toothed wheel at one end of a 6.5 cm long shaft (that will be the driven shaft), slip the shaft longitudinally into the bearing brick; as soon as it comes out of the bearing, position a 5 cm dia toothed wheel in the CD corner gap and fix the wheel to the shaft.
Now you can adjust the position of the little toothed wheel on the main shaft so that is meshes with the other wheel, and lock the main shaft by pushing the stop collar back against the bearing brick in B.
If everything is fine, the driving shaft should be jutting out ( in B) by about O.8 cm. Take a large toothed wheel (6 cm in diameter) and slip a handle bar into one of the outer holes. You can now fix this to the main shaft and it will act as a handle to rotate the unit.
Finally you must strengthen the framework by snapping in a brick and a 6-pin brick on the top of side B.

DOCUMENT # 1A

To build the machine, you'll need a large base plate. One of the long sides will be called 'side 'A' , then, turning the plate clockwise, you have side B, then side C and finally D.

Let's start with side C, in the CD corner, and place a 6-pin bar, and, still along C, a 4-pin one.
Moving anticlockwise, you now snap in a 6-pin brick followed by a brick.
The A-side is composed of a square brick followed by two bricks.
Finally, place a 6-pin brick so as to leave a 1-pin wide gap near the D-bar.

Then proceed to the second layer which is built in the same way as the first except on side A: it does not extend right to corner AC but the last three pins are left free ( to place a toothed wheel in the gap later ). To build this layer, you may use the bricks / bars you like but you must be careful that all the parts you place must ALWAYS OVERLAP those of the lower layer so that no part is positioned just on top of another. This aims at making the framework stiffer.

The third layer will be slightly more complex as it has to be divided into layer 3A and layer 3B.
Let's start with side C: on the top of the bars already positioned, add (in the CD corner) an 8-pin bar, then a 4-pin one. This will be layer 3A and 3B is merely a 2-pin plate placed on the bar in the AC corner.
The next elements to snap on will make up side B: next to the bar, place an 8-pin plate (layer 3A) and a bearing brick on top of it (layer 3B).
Beginning in corner AB, side A comprises two bricks and ends with a 2-pin bar. As to layer 3B, it is simply a 16-pin plate and a 2-pin plate. You can position them as you like.
To end the work on the third layer on side D, you'll snap in an 8-pin plate, and a bearing brick on top of it (just as you have done on the opposite side).

Now that the framework is almost over, let's turn towards the gear system;
Let's start with the driving shaft rotating on the bearings in C and D. You require a long shaft which you start slipping through the middle hole of the B-side bearing brick. When it comes out of the bearing brick, slip a stop collar; while keeping this stop collar close to the bearing brick, fix a 3 cm dia toothed wheel at the free end of the shaft. Keep pushing the spindle until it enters the left hole of the other bearing brick by one or two millimetres. If everything is fine, the driving shaft should be jutting out ( in B) by about O.8 cm. Take a large cogged wheel (6 cm in diameter) and slip a handle bar into one of the outer holes. You can now fix this to the driving shaft, it will act as a handle to rotate the unit.
For the driven shaft, first place a small toothed wheel at one end of a 6.5 cm long spindle, slip the shaft longitudinally into the bearing brick; position a 5 cm dia cogged wheel in the CD corner gap and fix the wheel to the shaft.
Now you can adjust the position of the little toothed wheel on the main shaft so that is meshes with the other wheel, and lock the main shaft by pushing the stop collar back against the bearing brick in B (so as to prevent the shaft from moving to and fro).
Finally it is advisable to strengthen the framework by snapping in a brick and a 6-pin brick on the top of side B.

DOCUMENT # 2

There will be 3 layers.

Layer 1: build a rectangle ( 8 pins long and 7 pins wide)
Layer 2: do the same except that on one of the long (8-pin) sides you leave a 2-pin wide gap.
Layer 3: similar to layer 1, except that in the middle of each long side you have to use a bearing brick.

Take a short shaft, fix a large wheel at one end into which you will have slipped a handle bar before. Insert the shaft into the middle hole (of the brick whose wall has NO gap) and fix a small toothed wheel ( on the other -(inner) side of the bearing.

Pull out the free bearing brick ( the one with a gap below), and insert a short shaft VERTICALLY into the middle hole. Under the brick, place a stop collar and, above the brick, a large toothed wheel. Snap back the whole thing, and everything should mesh together!

You can now hand this "machine" to your students...

Contributed by Jean-Claude Viel, September 1997

A message from a visitor...

Thanks for the lego information. I've been using it a couple of years myslf. I invested in a "Techno" lego-set which is meant to teach the joys of gears and transmission sytems to youngsters. Having an 8 year-old at home helps me with extra bits and pieces. The first thing I thought of when I saw your descriptions was "Why build it?" I have a couple of groups of design engineers who will shortly be having to draw your machine. (Working in groups of course!).

My tip for you (if you haven't already come up with it yourself) is to give one pair the step by step instructions (wordless - only pictures) and they have to describe the assembly step by step. This works with non-technical groups as weel (you'd be amazed how creative people can be in inventing new words. I use the argument with my engineers that "what happens if these people are from France and don't know words like "shaft", "spacer" and "locking pin"; encouraging them to explain rather than translate.

I forgot: Give one pair / group only a picture of the finished "machine" and they have to describe the stages from that. An extension is to have the two groups back to back / on the phone so eye contact and body language is avoided...ouch! They'll love you for that one!

Contributed by John Downey , February 1998

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