Putting It All Together: Lab Reports and Legos

In this Activity, students study a structure made from Lego blocks and then attempt to build the structure from memory. During a second examination of the structure, students write building instructions. The instructions are then given to another student who attempts to recreate the structure without looking at the original. The Activity illustrates important concepts of laboratory report writing, including the ideas that records and observations should be written down immediately, and that clear and concise writing is necessary when recording information. The Activity could be used to lead off a laboratory component of a course, or as a teaching tool after one or two laboratory reports have been handed in.