Lego becomes a Science 

Lego, the building blocks of many a child’s pastime, have been used to reincarnate almost every video game, film classic and now even rock stars as Jimi Hendrix on Lego Rock Band and David Bowie on Dance. For the first time, however, Lego is being used for science.  

Stockley Academy, Uxbridge in London are the first school outside of Scandinavia to use Lego education tool kits to teach children how to problem-solve. The education kits are used to construct models employed in physics, technology, engineering and mathematics. These kits can be used to build a robot, security alarm, a mini-power station that generates electricity using wind and water, among other things.  

Criticised for being too safe, modern science lessons don’t encourage children to experiment or investigate for themselves, including students doing their A-levels. Director of the National Science Learning Centre and British Government’s chief advisor on science in schools, John Holman, says the current focus in schools is on formulaic investigations.  

Such learning ignores the “softer skills such as creativity, problem solving and cooperation” remarks Lego Education vice-president, Jens Maibom. The moral? Lego, the old-age children’s toy, despite its video-game enhancement, is educational and should be encouraged in the classroom.