Author: Tufts STOMP
Time: 3 - 4 45 minute class periods
Description: Students will use LEGOs to design a creature that is adapted to life in the ocean.

Grade Level:

• K-3

Lesson Objectives:

• To apply engineering problem-solving strategies to creat a sturdy structure with LEGOs that has a least one moving part.
• To demonstrate an understanding of animal adapations by designing a creature with features adapted to life in the ocean to help it breathe, eat, move, protect itself, and adjust to warm and cold temperatures.
  

Materials Needed:

• Sea Creatures Design Brainstorming sheet
• Sea Creatures Design Worksheet
• Our Sea Creature Paragraph planning Worksheet
• LEGO kits

Preparation and Setup:

• Make photocopies of worksheets.
• Arrange students in groups of two.
• Distribute necessary materials.
  

Vocabulary:

• Adaptations
  

Procedure:

1. Introduce the concept of animal adaptations, with a focus on whales. (e.g., blowholes for breathing, blubber for warmth and feeding in winter, baleen teeth for eating, fins/flippers/flukes for moving though water, warm blood for keeping warm)
2. Review different types of adaptations that would help different creatures survive in the ocean. (e.g., clam shells for protection, bird's wings and hollow bones for flight, cat's whiskers for feeling)
3. Have each student fill out a sea creature adaptation brainstorming sheet.
4. Have students get into their groups and combine ideas to make come up with a sea creature that the group wants to design. Each design should have at least one element from every group members original brainstorm.
5. Students should complete a Sea Creature Design Worksheet as a group.
6. Distribute kits and allow students to start building.
   
7. Each student should write a paragraph describing his/her creature. They will include a name for their creature and at least 3 features that are an adaptation to life in the sea.
8. Students will present their work to the class, demonstrating and describing all adaptations.

References:

• CEEO Curriculum Website - http://www.ceeo.tufts.edu/robolabatceeo.
  

Assessment:

• Teacher observation of the LEGO creature.
• Student presentations
• Student's worksheets.
  

Sample Images: