Brickbuilt Engineering Pop-Up Workshop

Calling all AMBITIOUS brick creators!

In this class, we will discover how using an engineering design process can push your brick building skills to the next level. This workshop is designed to help learners get started with using the ABCs of Design to tackle building goals that are fun, cool, and slightly intimidating. Every learner will have a chance to contribute their ideas about a project they think would be fun, cool, and hard to create. From there, we will discuss how to use engineering design principles to get started bringing a difficult design to life.

In this workshop, we aim to use an engineering design process to get started on a complex project. Engineers know that getting started is often the most difficult part of the design journey! Because it's important to take time to "Do the work to build the ideas" -- the D of the ABCs of Design -- we use short building bursts (generally between 6 and 12 minutes) to get started on the design before entering a time of sharing. Learners will be asked to describe their builds, and as the instructor, I will offer spot reflections on how different students are using the ABCs of Design during the building process. I aim to give every student a chance to share their design at least twice during our workshop. Please be advised that the balance between building and sharing is highly contingent on the number of learners in the class and how individual students describe their project. As an experienced engineer, I work to offer meaningful just-in-time feedback.

Examples of ambitious brickbuilt projects include things like:
-- An arm shield that can be held by a person
-- A space station complete with airlocks
-- An epic castle with a throne room and treasury
-- A museum filled with exhibits
-- A model elevator

To help you decide if this workshop is right for your learner, consider whether your learner can sustain their attention on one complex brick build for 40 minutes or more (whether working on an independent design or from a set). If your student prefers working on smaller builds, I recommend Engineering Design for Kids or the Bricktastic Engineering Challenge. Additionally, please note this class emphasizes engineering design where students will be working on building their own ideas rather than following a set of step-by-step instructions.