Lego GBC Course for High School Students & AFOL

[dgeehot]

Good day, I hope that this is not an inappropriate topic for this form. I have been asked to create an introductory course on how to use Legos and technic pieces to build great ball contraptions. I have learned through the school of hard knocks and how to do it. But I was wondering if anyone in this group can help me develop a syllabus or outline on topics to include in a brief course that would assist students and adult fans of Lego get a better comprehension of how to build one. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated? Or if you know of any good resources that I could use as a framework for a program if you could share it with me or provide me the URLs or documents that would also be very helpful and quite appreciated. If you want to send me something my email is dgeehot@gmail.com - Thanks - Daniel

[skppo]

I believe this page is where it all started:

http://www.teamhassenplug.org/GBC/

It contains the basic guidelines for modules. I think that is a good start.

 

[Captainowie]

What you develop will depend on a lot of things:

• How brief is "brief", and what format will you use? One hour per week for 8 weeks needs a different setup than one 8-hour workshop.
• What is your goal? Are you trying to teach basic mechanics and using GBC as motivation? Or are you specifically trying to produce GBC builders?
• What will the assumed knowledge be? An AFOL might already know about how to build sturdy structures, and a high-school student might already know about how gearboxes work.

Most of Sariel's The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide will be useful reference material, though the parts descriptions are now a little dated (*shakes fist at LEGO for continually bringing out new parts*).

Hope that helps

Owen.

[dgeehot]

Thank you Captainowie for your response. I was planning on having my initial class explain basically what a GBC module is, then show some you tube video of a typical GBC set-up. Then have a couple of GBC's modules

for the group to take a look at. My initial overview would be around 2 hours or so. If there is an interest, then I was thinking about scheduling a formal class each week for 2 hours for about 8 weeks. Most of the folks that have

expressed an interest our some students who have an interest in engineering and after teaching some fundamental, challenge them to create their own design or take and existing design and make it their own.  

[brickless_kiwi]

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Rather off topic don't you think? 

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[Berthil]

I see this thread is from January and things have of course changed since then with Covid but still.
My video channel has a lot of (inspiring) GBC's of which most I designed and for a lot I have created free instructions. But these are complex.

I don't think there is a ready to use student program. For simple modules you could Google for 'LEGO GBC Workshop modules'. These are mostly just steppers or conveyor belts.
PV productions has a few free designs from existing sets but also plans to buy. Building from existing sets is cheaper than sourcing single bricks.
GBC Planet also has some info and free instructions. Getting LEGO balls is also an issue, these are very expensive. There are some non-LEGO alternatives but some are a bit smaller and/or heavier.

If I would design a student program I would emphasize the fact that collaboration can create a circle of modules and promote teamwork as such.
GBC is about timing and mechanics but it cannot be expected from beginners they can design own modules already so I would take existing modules and try to make one big circle of working machines.

BTW, it's called LEGO as a brand and the bricks are called LEGO bricks and not Legos. Please don't teach Legos to your students as Legos does not exist :)

Edited August 20, 2020 by Berthil

[Ximeeselis]

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Edited March 15, 2021 by Ximeeselis