Editing audio always takes 10 times as long as I expect. Audio is being edited from the conference, and cool stuff will appear tomorrow if it kills my processor.
This semester I’m teaching science for pre-service elementary and early childhood teachers (translation: students who will one day teach pre-school through third grade). I also have another future middle school teacher working on a senior thesis with me. All these future teachers have my brain busy trying to find a toy for everything. My one student is actually on a mission to find Lego models for all the different space telescopes, and the folks over on BAUTForum are helping her.
So far they have helped her find:
We are still looking for Hubble, Chandra, and Compton or GLAST. If all else fails, there is a need Lego CAD that allows one to design anything, and it could be really fun to use 🙂 While building Lego satellites isn’t all that educational, it does teach little kids the parts (solar panels, tube, antennae) of a space craft, and it teaches them to follow plans and build things. All good things. And Legos are just fun 🙂
Along the way, one of the folks who goes by “EvilEye” sent along a picture (above, credit Stellafane) of a Lego telescope built by Alan Rifkin of FAR Laboratories. It is a completely functional telescope, and it is way cool. It has me inspired to try and figure out how to build a reflector this way. I need to find some middle schooler looking for a science fair project, and inflict my Lego vision on them (The trick is finding one who has rich parents – I can’t even afford enough Lego’s to do this!)
I just had to share. This is one of the coolest silly functional things I’ve seen in a long time.
What can I say? I want one!
Hi Dr. Gay – I came across your blog (and think it’s great!) – and I noticed you’re seeking a GLAST Lego. Unfortunately, one hasn’t been put together.
I’m the lead public affairs officer for NASA on the GLAST mission, working with Sonoma State University (who developed all the educational materials).
Although there isn’t a Lego model of the spacecraft, you can find other educational materials at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/main/education_outreach.html
In addition, did you know there’s a challenge to rename the GLAST satellite (it will be renamed 2 months after launch)?
The challenge ends March 31st, and you can find information about it at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GLAST/science/glast_rename.html
Keep up the great blog!
Sincerely
Rob Gutro
Public Affairs Officer
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Md.
I would like to make an entire alternate reality out of Legos.
That’s really cool. Legos are awesome, just generally, and a functional telescope made of Legos? Way, way cool.
The blurb from the Dutch blog is pretty cool, too.