October 16th, 2007
LEGO Education would like to inform it’s users that the MINDSTORMS Education NXT Blog will soon become inactive.
We would like to encourage all of you not to worry as all past, present, and future posts can be accessed through the “Community” section of the LEGO Education website.
Once in the LEGO Education homepage users can simply click on the “Community” tab at the top of the screen and can enter the MINDSTORMS Education NXT Blog from there.
Want to check it out now? Click here to be redirected to the new blog!
October 16th, 2007
Just a note to all you FLL teams out there, this year’s Power Puzzle logo is available for download on the FIRST LEGO League site.
We would like to encourage teams to get creative with the logo and use it on t-shirts or other materials as you see fit.
Want to check it out? Click here to be redirected to the FLL United States homepage.
October 2nd, 2007
With the addition of the Science and Technology Power Add-On Set, LEGO® Education is continuing to prepare students for robotics.
This set, which focuses on powered forces and motion, allows students to become familiar with TECHNIC building elements while learning both engineering and design principles. In addition, students use the motor, battery box, and connecting leads included in the set, to bring their models to life; making moving mechanisms and developing a greater understanding of motorized machines.
When combined with the Science and Technology Base Set, the Power Add-On aids in creating a knowledge base that is key in bringing students one step closer to robotics.
October 2nd, 2007
Originally available from the 8272 TECHNIC Snowmobile Set, comes the new Track and Sprockets Set. This new spare parts set contains 100 track elements and 10 sprockets; further enabling the creation of wicked awesome NXT robots (see below).
Product Name: Track and Sprockets Pack
Item Number: 991369
Price: $12.00
Contents: 100 track elements, 10 sprockets
The set is available now at www.legoeducation.com
October 2nd, 2007
In Jim Kelly’s latest module, Mystery Warehouse Part 1, Mulligan and his friend Veronica are searching for his uncle who has mysteriously disappeared. Their only clue to his whereabouts is a note that leads them to a dark and eerie warehouse. Once inside the friends’ robot building and programming skills are tested as they must race to complete some strange challenges and find Mulligan’s missing uncle.
Throughout this module, students will participate in two pre-challenge activities and one main challenge as they build and program a robot using the new HiTechnic Compass Sensor. CAD building instructions and complete programming instructions are provided along with Web links for downloading all programs used in the module.
Story and worksheets can be reproduced for helping students track their challenge progress and additional homework/extra credit activities are included throughout.
Part 2 and 3 of the module will be available soon and will utilize the HiTechnic Color and Acceleration Sensors.
Item Number: 991388
Price: $39.00
Interested? Please check out www.legoeducation.com for any additional product information.
October 2nd, 2007
Introducing the Gyro and the IRSeeker, the latest additions to the HiTechnic sensor line adapted for the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT! Through their partnership with LEGO, HiTechnic has once again delivered two great additions to the NXT accessory group.
The HiTechnic Gyro Sensor allows students to accurately detect and measure rotation for their NXT projects. The Gyro contains a single-axis gyroscopic sensor that can measure +/- 360 per second; allowing users to build robots that can balance, swing, or perform other functions where measurement of rotation is essential.
The HiTechnic IRSeeker Sensor is exceptionally useful for robot games such as the RoboCup Junior competitions. This sensor has an array of infrared detectors that gives a 135-degree view and returns the direction and relative signal strength, indicating the location of IR source. This allows an NXT bot to find the infrared source, such as the soccer ball, and keep it in sight.
In addition to the new Gyro and IRSeeker, HiTechnic has released three other NXT sensors: the Color Sensor, the Compass Sensor, and the Acceleration Sensor. All of the sensors mentioned have a wide variety of educational applications and new accessories will continue to be introduced throughout 2007 and 2008.
You can learn more about these sensors and future sensors from HiTechnic at www.legoeducation.com or www.hitechnic.com
September 21st, 2007
A quick reminder to all teams interested in taking part in this year’s FLL competition, registration is coming to a close. This year the cut off point for North America is set at 6,700 teams and as of September 17th, 5,626 teams have already secured their spots. We would like to encourage the remaining interested teams to sign up as soon as possible. Don’t miss out on what is sure to be an exciting competition!
All teams may register at http://register4fll.com.
July 17th, 2007
LEGOengineering.com’s newest survey focuses on how educators manage LEGO-based learning.
They want to know how educators facilitate student learning in activities that use LEGO materials. How do LEGO activities help you meet academic requirements? How do you choose activities? How do you introduce activities? How do you keep students on task during a LEGO activity?
Take the latest survey and help the, summarize how educators are managing LEGO learning in the classroom.
Survey results will be published in Fall 2007.
http://www.legoengineering.com/content/view/78/65/
July 2nd, 2007
LEGO Education’s 2007 Robotics catalog is out, and there are some new products available that you might not have heard about yet.
LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT: The Mayan Adventure, by Jim Kelly, uses a story based around an archeological exploration of a Mayan ruin to frame some interesting and challenging robotics projects. The book presents the challenges, discusses building techniques, offers a design journal, and even provides programming instructions. Jim also blogs at The NXT Step, a great spot on the web for lots of independent NXT resources.
Physics by Design, Edition II, by Barbara Bratzel, uses the engineering principles to teach physics and physical science using LEGO Education robot sets. The book includes activities that use both ROBOLAB 2.9 and NXT, as well as both the NXT- and RCX-based sets. This makes it an ideal addition to a classroom is slowly transitioning from the RCX-based sets to the LEGO MINDTORMS Education NXT sets. To learn more about Barbara, read about how she integrates engineering into her classroom, or take a look at her article at LEGOengineering.com about transitioning from RCX-based sets to NXT-based sets in her classroom.
Maximum LEGO NXT: Building Robots with Java Brains, by Brian Bagnall, shows how to use Java, a very popular programming language, to program and control robots built using the LEGO MINDTORMS Education NXT sets. The book includes JAVA nstallation and programming how-tos, project building instructions, integrating Bluetooth, and lots more. Brian also has a website, http://www.mts.net/~kbagnall/mindstorms/, where you can learn more about some of his projects
June 19th, 2007
The National Education Computing Conference is next week! Are you going? Be sure to stop by the LEGO Education booth (#1926) to say hello and check out out various sets, software, and curriculum.
In addition to the LEGO Education booth, you might be interested in the Robotics in the Classroom: Build, Design, Program, and Invent workshop. This event is not sponsored by LEGO Education, but by enthusiastic, experienced teachers.
National Educational Computing Conference
June 24-27
Atalanta, GA
