A new study says that the faces on Lego minifigures have become less happy and more often mad or sad. The study was designed to find out if the Lego characters have become grumpier over the years. Christoph Bartneck works at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. He loves Lego and even worked for the company in the 1990s. He worked with another researcher on the project. They looked at all of the 6,000 figures made between 1975 and 2010. They made a note of each figure’s facial expression: happy, angry, afraid, disgusted, surprised or sad. They discovered that while in 1980, all of the figures were described as “smiley,” by 1990, only about 80 per cent of them were “smiley.” And by 2010, just 50 per cent of the figures had a smile on their little plastic faces. The researchers are wondering how the increasingly sad, angry and unhappy faces on the Lego figurines will affect the children who play with them. “Children’s toys and how they are perceived can have a significant impact on children,” said Dr. Bartneck in a media release on the university’s website.
While Lego hasn’t issued an official response to the study, Bartneck said he thinks the reason Lego is producing angrier-faced characters is because customers want them. He said it’s likely that people want Lego characters that have different expressions, rather than just being sunny all the time. He said most of the unhappy faces are on characters based on a specific theme such as Harry Potter or pirates. Bartneck will present his findings at the First International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction in Sapporo, Japan in August. Why do you think Christoph Bartneck decided to study Lego faces? What do you think about his study? Does it change how you think about Lego? Do you think Lego will change the facial expressions because of this study? Reading Prompt: Demonstrating Understanding If you had to describe a Lego face to someone who didn’t know what Lego was, how would you describe it? What adjectives would you use? Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by identifying important ideas and some supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4).
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4). Synonyms are different words that have similar meanings. For example, a synonym for “exited” is “enthusiastic”. Think of synonyms for the following words that people used to describe Lego faces:LEGO The Simpsons Minifigure - No1 Homer Lego Play Themes Fire Emergency 60003 New** LEGO Minifigures Disney - Cheshire Cat LEGO Star Wars - Battle Droid Pilot Lego Advanced Building VOLVO L350F Wheel Loader 42030 Lego Star Wars AT AT Walker Instruction Booklet - 4489 Lego Play Themes Pickup Tow Truck 60081 Lego Duplo Deluxe Train Set 10508 Lego Advanced Building Mercedes-Benz Arocs 42043 **NEW** LEGO The Batman Movie - King Tut Minifigure. Lego Minifigure - Mariachi - Series 16. Lego Play Themes Fun in the park - City People Pack 60134 Lego Play Themes Spider-Man: Doc Ock's Tentacle Trap 76059
Lego Advanced Building Arctic Truck 42038 LEGO Mindstorms Black NXT Brick LEGO Star Wars - Darth Vader Desk Lamp with Light-up Lightsaber Lego Play Themes Cinderella's Romantic Castle 41055 Lego Advanced Building Blue Power Jet 31039 LEGO Racers Hero 7970 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Tanker Truck Takedown (76067) Lego Play Themes Vet Ambulance 41086 Lego Play Themes Ford Mustang GT 75871 Lego Lego Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster 41130 41130 Lego Technic Telehandler (42061) LEGO Movie 70818 Double-Decker Couch set: Only Emmet Minifigure with Waffle and Car *NEW* LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum (76060) LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace / The Empire Strikes Out Double Pack Lego Toy and Grocery Shop 31036 Lego Play Themes LaFerrari 75899 Lego Play Themes Heartlake Private Jet 41100 Gargoyle- LEGO Series 14 Minifigure New** LEGO Minifigures Disney - Genie Star Wars LEGO: The Empire Stikes Out
New** LEGO Minifigures Disney - Aladdin LEGO Astro Smurfette Book Light Lego Advanced Building Changing Seasons 31038 LEGO Ninjago Green NRG Dragon (70593) Lego Play Themes First Order Transporter 75103 Lego 70818 The Lego Movie Double Decker Couch Instructions book ONLY - NO BRICKS OR MINIFIGURES INCL Great LEGO Sets: A Visual History$45.00 Packed with stunning photography and fascinating facts, Great LEGO® Sets: A Visual History explores the history of LEGO sets in magnificent detail. The guide offers an expansive overview of the most significant, popular, and interesting play sets, featured in chronological order from 1955 to the present day.Great LEGO Sets: A Visual History features the most beloved sets in the LEGO Group's long history, including much-loved classic 1980s LEGO Space and LEGO Castle sets and the latest stunning licensed themed sets, such as LEGO® Star Wars®.Created in full collaboration with the LEGO Group and with profiles and quotes from LEGO designers, this captivating new book also comes with an exclusive retro-style LEGO set for readers to build.