LEGO Education announced LEGO Education SPIKE Essential for primary school student to ignite enthusiasm for STEAM learning through playful problem-solving and storytelling.
Part of the LEGO Learning System, SPIKE Essential engages students in hands-on investigation of STEAM concepts while supporting literacy, math and social-emotional development.
SPIKE Essential joins LEGO Education SPIKE Prime, LEGO Education BricQ Motion Essential and LEGO Education BricQ Motion Prime in the suite of solutions offered as part of the LEGO Learning System to deliver STEAM knowledge, academic practices and 21st century skills through a progression of playful experiences from primary to secondary school.
Year-over-year students build increasing sophistication, independence and fluency in approaching problems hands-on, and cultivate essential skills like creativity, critical-thinking, collaboration and communication.
The LEGO Learning System meets every student where they are on their learning journey and delivers learning outcomes that future-proof their skills. Its scalable design, along with personalised professional development resources, makes it easy to implement at the classroom, school or district level – all at once or by introducing individual solutions over time.
Combining the technology-enhanced LEGO Education SPIKE Portfolio and non-tech LEGO Education BricQ Motion solutions, the Learning System makes abstract concepts more tangible as students move from simple explorations to tackling increasingly complex real-world challenges. With unlimited possibilities for playful hands-on STEAM learning, students become life-long confident learners.
Esben Stærk, president of LEGO Education, said with the launch of SPIKE Essential he is delighted to introduce a complete learning system that enriches the teaching and learning experience.
“At a time when everyone is rethinking learning, we believe the LEGO Learning System will spark joy and a love of learning in students that never stops,” Stærk said.
SPIKE Essential offers playful learning experiences in which students solve problems through storytelling. The cross-curricular STEAM solution includes familiar LEGO building elements, four new Minifigures with different characteristics and personalities that are relatable to students, and standards-aligned learning units using everyday themes.
The characters and stories not only engage students in STEAM learning, but also foster social-emotional skills. With 50 combined hours of educational content, SPIKE Essential combines age-appropriate icon- and word-based block coding with simple hardware — including an intelligent Hub, motors, a Light Matrix, and a Color Sensor — to bring STEAM concepts to life with the LEGO Education SPIKE App.
Each learning unit includes:
- A unit-wide theme: Great Adventures, Amazing Amusement Park, Happy Traveler, Crazy Carnival Games and Quirky Creations.
- A learning sequence with one introductory lesson, several guided practice lessons and one open-ended project.
- 7-8 lessons.
- Additional 30+ minute language arts and math extensions for each lesson.
- 6-10 hours of content.
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