January 2022

LEGO My Pizza!

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Academic Standards

Reading Objective:

Children will recognize that builders can use old parts in fresh ways to create innovative works.

Next Generation Science Standards:

K-2-ETS1: Engineering Design

Vocabulary:

builder, internet, nickname

Check comprehension and inspire discussion.

 

1. What does this builder make with LEGO bricks?
(He makes LEGO food.)

2. How do people see his LEGO food?
(He puts pictures of it on the internet.)

3. Is Tary his real name?
(No. Tary is his nickname.)

4. Why did he use an insect wing to make a banana?
(It was curved and yellow like a banana.)

 Go online to print or project the Reading Checkpoint.

  • Tary started playing with LEGO as a kid. He says
     it still feels like playing to him.
  • He started making LEGO food for a contest at a LEGO store in Japan. He won first prize!
  • Tary shares pictures of his LEGO food and other creations on Flickr as nobu_tary.

Materials: LEGO bricks or similar blocks, pencils, markers, copies of the skill sheet

Overview: Working in groups, students will plan, build, and tweak a LEGO tower. They’ll record and share what they built and learned.

Directions:

  1. Before the lesson, gather enough LEGO bricks or other blocks for each group of 3-4 kids to build a tower.
  2. Tell kids that engineers solve problems—like how to make a tower that stays up!
  3. Ask kids, What kind of tower will you build? How many bricks will you use? What will help it stay up?
  4. Divide students into small groups and send them to their building stations.
  5. Let kids build their “first draft” of a tower. Then ask: What works and what doesn’t? What would improve it? Let them try!
  6. Pass out the skill sheets. Kids can draw their towers. If time allows, do a gallery walk of the towers.