LEGO® Build the Change: Home Challenge

two lego figures look on over lego depictions of human development over natural landscapeds

Calling all builders of the future!

Everything that we humans do has an effect, or impact, on the natural world. An impact can be negative, bad for nature, or positive, good for nature.

Unfortunately, many animals are endangered, including many types of bird. Sadly, many birds have already become extinct just like their prehistoric ancestors, non-avian dinosaurs.

This time it’s human impact, not an asteroid that’s affecting them. But people all around the world are using simple ideas to help nature. Together, we can make our impact positive.

So even though it’s too late to save these ancient dinosaurs, we do have the chance to save today’s dinosaurs, birds!

The Natural History Museum and the LEGO Group are challenging you to share your creative ideas on how to have a positive impact on nature as part of our partnership which inspires children to learn about nature through play.

Choose from three challenges, each inspired by real world threats faced by birds, today’s descendants of prehistoric dinosaurs.

What to do

Choose one of the challenges below and use your imagination to build your own creation that will help birds. Be sure to watch the videos below for inspiration first.

You'll need to think carefully about what birds and the rest of nature need to survive, and how you can protect them from negative impacts.

Get building

Grab any LEGO® bricks or other materials you have around the house and build your idea on how to help address the challenge of your choosing! When building, think about what you are adding to your creation, and how it might impact nature, both positively and negatively.

You could think of a specific bird that you want to help. It could be one of the examples from the videos, your favourite bird, or one you’ve seen yourself!
What challenges does your bird face, and what are some real-world solutions already being tried in the video? Could these inspire your idea?
Picture the habitat or environment for which you want to create a positive impact. Perhaps you could start by creating the surrounding environment to add your idea into!
How does your idea work? It can be grounded and realistic, or imaginative and out-of-the-box! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are having a positive impact on nature.
Is it a new idea? If not, what can you add to make it even cooler and unique?

Share your builds

As all scientists do, make sure you share your ideas! Share your amazing creations with us and tell us how they help have a positive impact on nature. Be sure to write a short description, or draw an annotated picture to go along with it!

Use #LEGOBuildtheChange and on Instagram tag @natural_history_museum and @lego or on X.com tag @NHM_Learn and @LEGO_Group.

Challenge one - Habitat loss

Land is made up of countless different habitats around the world. Unfortunately, when people clear land for roads, settlements, and farms, this destroys unique natural habitats, leaving less space for animals like birds to live in.

Can you design and create something that protects any of the birds in the video, or any others you already know about, from the negative impacts of habitat loss?

Some suggestions to help your creative process:

Create something that will transform a building (like your home or your school) into a place that flying birds like swifts can nest in.
Create a way for ground-dwelling birds to cross a habitat safely.
Choose an open space near where you live and design a rewilding plan for it.

Challenge two - Water pollution

Water environments contain many different types of habitats: from coral reefs to rivers, coastal wetlands to garden ponds. Water is an incredibly important home for so many living things! But when people settle around coasts, materials and pollutants that are toxic to wildlife can be released into the water.

Can you design and create something that protects any of the birds in the video, or any others you already know about, from water pollution?

Some suggestions to help your creative process:

Choose a water environment: pond, river or ocean.
Create something that removes pollution from the water safely.
Create something that stops pollution from getting into the water in the first place.

Challenge three - Noise and light pollution

The air plays host to countless bird behaviours and activities – but human activity has started to interfere with how birds live their lives. Our streetlights and homes use bright lights that confuse animals like birds who use the natural day and light cycle as a guide. Machinery and vehicles also create loud noises that disturb and drown-out birds that use song to communicate with one another.

Can you design and create something that protects any of the birds in the video, or any others you already know about, from noise or light pollution?

Some suggestions to help your creative process:

Create something for your street that helps reduce light pollution, so the birds do not get distracted by lights at night.
Design something for your town or city that helps to reduce noise pollution so birds can communicate better.

a child concentrating as she builds with lego bricks

For Teachers: Keywords and curriculum links

This activity can be interpreted in various ways to suit different complexities; from a key stage 2 focus on environments and impacts to a complex key stage 4 challenge of human activity and the interdependencies in ecosystems. While LEGO® bricks are useful to build models and encourage playful creativity, any materials can be used to build ideas.

These challenges are from the Build the Change: Human Impact free downloadable digital course pack for educators, created in collaboration with the LEGO Group. The course pack contains lesson plans, presentations and speaker notes, printable materials, plus suggestions on various ways to adapt the content

Keywords

Biodiversity: Biodiversity is the name we give to the variety of all life on Earth. Bacteria to baboons, plants to people - the range of life on our planet is incredible. All living things exist within their own communities, or ecosystems - oceans, forests, deserts, ice caps and even cities. All this put together is biodiversity: the volume of life on Earth as well as how different species interact with each other and with the physical world around them.

Environment: This describes the world around us – both living and non-living things – and how they all interact. The non-living part of the environment is made up of three main parts: air, water and land.

Habitat: A habitat is simply the place where living things live. The space provides shelter, food and water to the living things.

Impact: A strong effect – something that has the power to change something else. Impacts can be positive (helpful) or negative (damaging.)

Pollution: This describes anything that, when added to the environment, is harmful, toxic and very bad for the health of the planet and everything on it.

Curriculum links

Science

Key Stage 1

Living things and their habitats

Identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how/to what extent, if at all, different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how/to what extent, if at all, they depend on each other.

Key Stage 2

Recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.
Pupils should explore examples of human impact (both positive and negative) on environments, for example, the positive effects of nature reserves, ecologically planned parks, or garden ponds, and the negative effects of population and development, litter or deforestation.

Key Stage 3

How organisms affect, and are affected by, their environment, including the accumulation of toxic materials

Geography

Key Stage 2

describe and understand key aspects of:

human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water

Key Stage 3

Understand how/to what extent, if at all, human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate; and how/to what extent, if at all, human activity relies on effective functioning of natural systems

Design & Technology

Key Stage 1

build structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable

Key Stage 2

Generate, develop, model, and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces, and computer-aided design.

Key Stage 3

Use a variety of approaches [for example, biomimicry and user-centred design], to generate creative ideas and avoid stereotypical responses

Build the Change: Human Impact

This five-lesson course, suitable for KS2 classes and co-created with the LEGO Group, explores how humans impact the planet, using the example of birds.