We have some special guest bloggers this month as Ms. Nelson’s third graders (Longfellow) have agreed to share their thoughts on the Geared Up program with us. Geared Up is an excellent introduction to engineering, using LEGOs. The program was first proposed by Gretchen Junker during our last Call for Ideas. Ms. Junker currently serves as the Program Coordinator, and a VEX Robotics Coach. Stay tuned for more posts from Ms. Nelson’s students, and catch up on those you missed here.
Guest Blogger: Shawn Beck
Have you ever heard of gears? Gears are like wheels with teeth, but not exactly like the kind of teeth we have in our mouths. The teeth on gears grip on to other gears so that they can spin together. Gears could help move objects more easily.
At this week’s LEGO workshop, we worked with gears. We attached a small handle to the gear train. A gear train is when you have at least two gears working together. When I turned the handle, the LEGO gears and pole started spinning. The speed of the gears changed depending on the size of the gears being used.
It was hard to make our gear machines, but it was fun to use them once they were built.
Guest Blogger: Lockewood Sims
Do you know what a gear is? Gears are wheels with teeth that grind against each other to make something spin. Gears are fun to play with and easy to make with the help of the Geared Up LEGO workshop! First, you get this bin of LEGOs that are nicely organized so that they’re super easy to work with. The best part is that you’re having a lot of fun while also learning a lot. When I first started the LEGO workshops, I thought that it felt like we weren’t even in school because it was so much fun getting to use LEGOS in our classroom.
