Want a great product to spice up your homeschool learning?  I would recommend giving Lego MBA a try.  You can buy level 1 (kits 1-3) and level 2 (kits 4-6) for $99 plus shipping.  It equals 10 months of wholesome learning and creative fun.  It is a good deal.




There is a whole lot of learning taking place when students sit down to work through their Lego MBA.  All kinds of skills are learned and practiced using the Lego MBA product.  For example, gross and fine motor skills are used in the design phase and as bricks are connected and taken apart.  Some dis-connections require the use of the brick separator that we received in kit 1. 

Students also use and practice reading skills as they work their way through the design handbook.  Observation skills are put into practice as they take note of the steps to achieve the designs and implement the building process.  Math is used in counting, calculating, sorting (shapes, sizes, colors), and making patterns and spatial relationships.  Science and Technology are involved as the student creates models of products used everyday to meet needs in our everyday lives.  It is also used in hypothesizing the design of a model, then building it, then re-designing or changing areas of the model to be productive, such as opening a door with a hinge.  Creativity is involved in completing the design challenge phases of each kit. 

Perhaps in the future, we will extend our learning of various subjects and be inclined to include a Lego MBA building project in our unit studies too.  For example, it would be great fun to build the Spaceship model as we study traveling into space, or the Rocket model as we study flight, fuel, aerodynamics, and gravity, etc.


LEGO MBA Level 1 Kit 2

I am teaching three of my kids about design and engineering and furthering our STEM learning with the Lego MBA product this school year.  Their ages are 11, 9, and 7 years old. 



I am also teaching the Lego MBA and using various Lego projects to further learning and in our Lego and Robotics Academy 4H Club.  Many of the children in our club bring in their Lego MBA projects for show and tell.  We also have design challenges during some meetings.  We split the kids into two teams and give them a challenge to solve and build.  The teams get points for using the techniques they learned in Lego MBA.  I will write a story about this soon.



This is the third story in our Lego MBA series.  For a complete picture of what this program is all about, and how we are using it to further our learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), be sure to read all the related stories posted here and in our Lego and Robotics Academy 4H Club stories.

            Lego MBA
            Level 1 Kit 1
            Level 1 Kit 2
            Level 1 Kit 3
            Level 2 Kit 4
            Level 2 Kit 5
            Level 2 Kit 6

Kit 2 comes with a new set of 222 Lego bricks and shapes, mini figure accessories, and a new curriculum handbook. Projects in Kit 2 include Airport, Race Track, and a Shuttle Launch.

 

The theme in Kit 2 is Micobuild Designer. Microbuilding is the art of building in microscale; models are scaled down to a micro size. Most Lego models are built in a minifigure scale. But microscale is a tiny version of the minifigure model.



Each kit in the Lego MBA program builds on the learning methods of the previous kit. Check out the earlier stories to learn what vocabulary words, building and design techniques we learned before, and are continuing to use.

In Kit 2, the student learns additional techniques such as: “Size Scaling” taking something big and making it small; “Small Elements” using the smallest Lego shapes that can be used in various ways to make small details (ex. use 1 x 1 round plate for micro wheels, 1 x 1 clear plates for windows); “Moving Function” using a small hinge to allow movement; “Streamlined Surfaces” created by using flat tiles with no studs on top; “Building In Sections” to create sturdy and stable sections separately that you connect later in the building process.


Projects we completed in Level 1 Kit 2:


Project 1  Airport with an Airplane, Bus, and Loading Ramp.






Project 2   Race Track, Race Car



Here the 7 year old is working on his micro build race track.  He is super excited about building with his older brothers.




Project 3  Space Launch Center and Space Shuttle.  
                The shuttle is sitting on the launch pad.



Space Center after the shuttle launched.  The boys had so much fun playing with
each of these models they built.





Microbuild Design Challenge

The challenge in Lego MBA Kit 2 involves designing a minifigure scale model on brick paper, then reducing its size (scaling it down), to be a microbuild size. 

First, you think of something you want to build, such as a boat model or a plane.  Then on paper decide how many bricks wide it will be and design it.  Then reduce it by 1/2, or however much you want to reduce it.  So if it was 6 brick wide, perhaps now it is only 3 brick wide and you re-draw it on this smaller scale.  Then build it. 

Lego MBA gives an example of building a minifigure rocket and reducing it to a microscale model on Lego brick paper.  Their example started out as 27 squares long and 6 squares wide.  By reducing it to 1/3 of its original size, it becomes 9 squares long and 2 squares wide.

Here is the microbuild fighter jet my 11 year old son designed and built for this challenge. It was six studs long, and two studs wide for the body, two more studs long for the nose tip, and eight studs wide for the wings.  It was very tiny!



Here is a microbuild grain and bread factory designed by my 9 year old with help from the 11 year old.  It was a collaborative project.  I am amazed they did this.  It has a grain hopper, a factory, smoke stacks, loading docks, semi – trucks and a grain wagon to haul the grain to the factory and finished bread away from the factory.  Good job guys!




Thanks for joining us!

Be sure to read our next post in the Lego MBA series and find out what we are learning about in Lego MBA Level 1 Kit 3.


This post will be linked up with
ABC and 123
No Time For Flashcards
Sharing Time
Raising Homemakers