I saw crazy spaghetti bowl and toilet plunger hats (icky!), chickens (residents of our classroom), teams like the “Water Workers, hi fives and lots of LEGO models that employed the mechanics of levers, screws, wheels pulleys and wedges.  I was blown away by some of the students’ presentations-especially the 1st grader that lectured me on the percentage of water use in different parts of the country (“thanks Mom”).

I joined young students (grades one to three) from multiple Philadelphia schools at the Friends Select School on April 21 for the LEGO EXPO. This year’s theme was “Aqua Adventure. Using the principles of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, ARTS, and math) the young students identified problems with our water supply and (sometimes) proposed solutions.  As a judge and event sponsor I worked with other peers to review their ideas and presentations. That is where the fun began.

At the end of the day all the teams received trophies with names like “Out of the Box,” “Radical Research,” and “Lil’Einsteins.” 

My fave-“Against All Odds”- had to change their broken zip line into an air conditioner on the spot!