Lego Education has recently introduced a new and exciting venture called the Lego Space Program. This is a joint program between Lego Education and the astronauts on board the International Space Station. The program includes interactive learning activities and games that help students to learn about space and physics.  The astronauts aboard the space station conduct various experiments and film them, so that students back on earth can follow along with the experiments of their own.  The Astronauts use Lego machines to demonstrate the various effects of space on gravity and objects.

The program was designed to provide a fascinating and interactive series of learning activities. These activities will spark the interest and imagination of its students while teaching them about space, calibration, distance, accuracy, area, gears and logic.

Activities
Lego has created a variety of activities with Lego projects for students to build and work with. The activities include:

• Trundle Wheel
The Trundle Wheel is a unique machine that students construct and use to conduct experiments in microgravity and measurement. Working with the Trundle Wheel involves use of logic and the scientific method.

• Hammer
The hammer is a project that children build in order to conduct and study microgravity experiments using the scientific method.

• Beam Balance
The beam balance helps students to understand the difference between mass and weight and how they apply in space.

• Power Pulley
Students learn to work with or enhance their knowledge of pulley systems while learning about the effects of microgravity in space on pulleys.

• Space Buggy
The space buggy allows students to find out first-hand how vehicles are used and implemented in space.

• Space Calling
Children learn about satellites including how they work and why they are important both on Earth and to the astronauts in the International Space Station.

Result
The Lego Space station helps students to learn about important physics, the scientific method and space while also helping to develop a life-long love of learning!

Brainy Academy
Brainy Academy in Sheepshead Bay is proud to take part in the Lego Space program. Our curriculum will follow along with the space station activities starting in the fall of 2012. Our students will build the same models, conduct the same experiments and record their results just like the astronauts. With the use of our smart board we will then view the astronaut’s experiments and compare our results.