

In the last chapter of this section, "Building and Learning with Programmable Bricks," Randy Sargent, Mitchel Resnick,
Fred Martin, and Brian Silverman discuss the applications and implications of the Programmable Brick-a tiny, portable
computer embedded inside a LEGO brick, capable of interacting with the physical world in a large variety of ways.
Programmable Bricks make possible a wide range of new design activities for students in robotics and ubiquitous
computing, a new research field that aims to spread computation throughout the environment, embedding computation
in all types of objects and artifacts. The authors describe initial results from three types of applications: building active
environments in which children use Programmable Bricks as sensors and regulators; making autonomous creatures
that display various behaviors; and personal science experiments to monitor and control everyday phenomena. The
authors conclude with a list of 20 things to do with Programmable Bricks.