4th grade students just completed their second LEGO WeDo creation and are beginning their third model. Students built and programmed a mechanical lion that makes sounds and is motorized to lift and lower its front legs as if it is sitting up and lying down. They “trained” their lions to sit up and roar, then lie down and snore when they threw it a “bone” made with a tilt sensor. Now the students are in the process of building a mechanical bird that makes sounds which are activated by manually tilting the bird up and down to lift and lower its head and flap its wings.
(The looks of surprise captured on the children's faces in the photograph above are due to the lion's head popping off as the students were trying to figure out the correct motor power and number of rotations required to make the lion sit up properly.)
-Megan Haddadi
