# Little Engineers — Instructional Sequence

A roadmap of the District 5 Little Engineers / RoboFun curriculum. Five themed Lesson Sets, taught as five one-hour sessions each. Lesson Sets can be taught in any order, but lessons *within* a set are sequential.

> **Note from the curriculum:** "Lessons can be mixed and matched for single-day, and/or parent/child workshops."

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## Program Goals

Through this curriculum, students will be able to:

- Understand how DUPLO® pieces fit together to build various structures
- Understand how stability, balance, size, and weight affect their constructions
- Demonstrate understanding of gears meshing
- Use counting and sorting skills to identify particular DUPLO® pieces
- Construct 3D models that are solutions to problems
- Measure and weigh objects
- Practice pre-reading and reading skills through reading blueprints
- Sequence objects based on various identifiers (size, weight, numerical order)
- Work collaboratively with other students

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## Club Structure (Every Session)

Each lesson follows the same arc so routines stay predictable for preschool-age learners:

1. **Opening Circle** — Song / Story / "Mouse and Cheese" word game; introduce Rosie the Robot
2. **Mini-Lesson** — Concept of the day (gears, balance, levers, etc.)
3. **Activity / Movement Break** — Hands-on or kinesthetic interlude
4. **Rosie's Problem of the Day** — A build challenge framed around helping Rosie
5. **Building** — Blueprint build or free build
6. **Free Building / Sharing** — Open exploration and show-and-tell
7. **Closing Circle** — Story and song; clean-up

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## Unit 1 — Fun with Simple Machines (pages 5–25)

| # | Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction and a Friend for Rosie | Intro to club, piece ID, building a clown/animal friend |
| 2 | Cheers for Gears | Merry-go-rounds, gear meshing & direction, gear size |
| 3 | SeeSaws | Levers and balance |
| 4 | Light and Heavy | Measuring weight and length with levers |
| 5 | Slides are Inclined Planes! | Ramps, slides, inclined planes — a playground for Rosie |

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## Unit 2 — Transportation Go! (pages 26–48)

| # | Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Introduction — Getting from Here to There | Piece ID, scavenger hunt, sequencing |
| 7 | Cars and Ramps | Wheels, measuring distance |
| 8 | Boats, Buoyancy, and Balance | Floating, symmetry, sails |
| 9 | Bridges | Over and under, spans |
| 10 | Cranes | Round gears and worm gears |
| — | **Bonus Build:** Worm Gear Scooter | Extra vehicle build using worm gears |
| — | **Bonus Build:** Cab and Trailer | Extra vehicle build |

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## Unit 3 — Fun and Games (pages 49–63)

| # | Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Top and Spinner | Intro lesson — pieces have names, spinning motion |
| 12 | Paper Crimper | Blueprint build; Option 2 builds arms for a Paper Robot Friend |
| 13 | Fishing Pole | Blueprint build with fish cut-outs |
| 14 | Hockey Player | Blueprint build using gears |
| 15 | Wall and Catapult | Launching mechanism + sturdy wall target |

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## Unit 4 — I'm an Architect (pages 64–83)

| # | Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | An Invention for Rosie | Intro lesson — piece ID, scavenger hunt, free design |
| 17 | Walls and Falls | Sturdy building and seams |
| 18 | User-Centered Design | Over, under, around, through — enclosures |
| 19 | Roofs, Rain, and Wolves | Choosing sturdy materials; mini-fig inhabitants |
| 20 | Chairs for Bears | Measuring sizes and sequencing |

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## Unit 5 — I'm an Inventor (pages 84–102)

| # | Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Let's Dance! — Breakdance Bot | How things move; simple mechanisms |
| 22 | Swing for the Fences! | Bats and baseball — what is a tool? |
| 23 | Standing Tall! | Intro to assistive devices |
| 24 | Putt-tastic! | The "putt" in mini-golf |
| 25 | Ice Hockey Hero! | Free design hockey hero (companion to L14) |

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## Cross-Unit Resources

- **Rosie the Robot** — recurring puppet/prop across every lesson
- **Piece ID Reference** — used in every intro lesson (L1, L6, L11, L16)
- **Mouse and Cheese** word game — alternative opener
- **Movement Breaks** — Construction Movement Cards (L10), Ring Around the Rosie (L16), I'm a Little Robot finger puppets (L3)

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## Asset Availability in This Folder

At-a-glance: which lessons currently have blueprint/handout files in this folder.

| Unit | Lessons with assets | Lessons missing assets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Simple Machines | L1, L2, L3 | L4, L5 |
| 2 — Transportation | L7, L8, L10 (+ both bonus builds) | L6, L9 |
| 3 — Fun and Games | L11, L12, L13, L14, L15 | — (complete) |
| 4 — I'm an Architect | L19 (minifig only) | L16, L17, L18, L20 |
| 5 — I'm an Inventor | L21 | L22, L23, L24, L25 |

Unit 3 is the only fully-resourced unit. Lessons missing assets are taught from the curriculum doc alone — no blueprint slides required.