LEGO Physics

There are three topic areas covered by the LEGO Physics resources: Building Your Own Universe, Fission and Fusion, and Particle Physics. For each topic, there is a booklet for the students to read, and a PowerPoint to use with your class. You'll also find information about the LEGO bricks you'll need for the activities, how this topic ties in with the nuclear masterclass, and questions and worksheets for your students.

In this session, we will discover how the basic building blocks of matter were created. We will learn how the first atoms were formed and how the heavy elements that we are made of were born in the heart of stars, before considering the end of the universe. Every student will want a "Build Your Own Universe" booklet.

Activity 1 - Musical Quarks

Everyone in the class is given either an up quark (yellow) or a down quark (red). So, for a class size of 30, you'll need:

• 15x Yellow bricks

• 15x Red bricks

Activity 2 - Jumbled Universe

The class should get into pairs, and every pair is given:

• 28x Yellow bricks (up quarks)

• 28x Red bricks (down quarks)

• 5x White bricks (electrons)

Activity 4 - History of the Universe

This activity doesn't need any LEGO bricks, and is a fill in the blank exercise. You can print off the text for them to work through, or simply display it on the screen, (you can find the answers in your Lesson Plan booklet or in this document).

In this session, we will discover how we can get energy out of atoms. We are going to look into the heart of atoms, at the particles that make up the atomic nucleus. We will uncover how these particles behave and how we can harness that behaviour to create useable energy. Every student will want a "Fission and Fusion" booklet.

Activity 1 - Radiation Spot the Difference

Every individual in the class is given:

• 2x Yellow bricks (protons)

• 2x Red bricks (neutrons)

• 1x White brick (beta particle)

There is also a fill in the blank exercise. You can print off the text for them to work through, or simply display it on the screen, (you can find the answers in your Lesson Plan booklet or in this document).

Activity 2 - Confused Fusion

The class should get into pairs, and every pair is given:

• 12x Yellow bricks (protons)

• 5x Red bricks (neutrons)

• 1x Black brick (positron)

• 1x White flat tile (neutrino)

You may find this image of the proton-proton chain useful.

Activity 3 - Fission Division

This activity doesn't need any LEGO bricks, and is a fill in the blank exercise. You can print off the text for them to work through, or simply display it on the screen, (you can find the answers in your Lesson Plan booklet or in this document).

In this session, we will discover what our universe is actually made from. This session involves the most fundamental building blocks of our universe. We will be talking about fundamental particles and the strange world they inhabit. We will learn some of the subtle rules that govern their behaviour and see how this strange behaviour defines our familiar world. Every student will want a "Particle Physics" booklet.

Activity 1 - Build a Baryon

Every individual in the class is given:

• 2x Yellow bricks (up quark)

• 2x Red bricks (down quark)

• 2x Orange bricks (strange quark)

• 2x Light green bricks (anti-up quark)

• 2x Dark green bricks (anti-down quark)

• 2x Blue bricks (anti-strange quark)

Activity 2 - Make a Meson

For the second activity, the students need to identify the charge and name of the following mesons. They can use their same bricks from Activity 1:

• Anti-up quark + down quark 

• Anti-up quark + up quark 

• Anti-down quark + up quark 

• Strange quark + anti-up quark 

Activity 3 - Combination conundrum

For this activity, students get into pairs with their 12 quarks, (so every pair has 24 quarks) and builds a variety of baryons and mesons together, (following the combination rules).

Activity 4 (Extension)

This activity doesn't need any LEGO bricks, and is a fill in the blank exercise. You can print off the text for them to work through, or simply display it on the screen, (you can find the answers in your Lesson Plan booklet or in this document).