Some of Sarah Martin's third-grade students at Longfellow Elementary School quickly built their Lego cars for a math and science project on Monday while others took a little longer. The students spent most of the hourlong afternoon period at Longfellow building the small vehicles out of Legos. It was fun but not all games.

Geared Up, a new program offered by the Oak Park Education Foundation, teaches kids about math and science using the 60-year-old interlocking plastic bricks. Six District 97 elementary schools are using the program, which began last week. At Longfellow, 715 S. Highland, pairs of students built separate parts of the Lego cars before assembling them together. Then they went into another classroom where small ramps were set up.

The program's first lesson involved measuring how long it took their car to roll down the ramp when heavier parts were added. The cars have a small disk on top that rotates as the car rolls. The faster it rolls, the faster the disk rotates. Adding parts or raising and lowering the ramp changes how fast and how far the car will travel.

"It's really hands-on," Martin said. "Instead of listening to me talk or sitting and reading out of a book, the students can learn by actually doing it. That's how most kids learn."

Geared Up is funded by the Oak Park Education Foundation, a privately funded nonprofit group of parents, educators and community residents that provides science-based enrichment programs for District 97 students.

 Each Geared Up class takes about six weeks to complete. After one class concludes, another will use the kits. Students can also build other structures with the kits, like pulleys or boats. Beye, Irving, Whitter, Holmes and Lincoln schools are also taking part in the program, which is expected to roll out at the other elementary schools in the 2009-10 school year.

The idea of using Legos in such a way came from parent Gretchen Junker, whose two sons attend Longfellow. She previously volunteered for the Ed Foundation's Vex Robotics program at the middle schools and wanted to bring something similar to the elementary schools, albeit less technical.

Junker thought of using Legos and at first considered having a Lego club for the kids. Meanwhile, the Ed Foundation was looking for ideas for a new program to launch at the middle school. Beginning last spring, she talked with fellow parents and teachers about her idea. Junker came across a Web site, LegoEducation.com, which sells kits used in schools.

"That seemed to make it a lot more useful to the teachers," she said.

By late spring, everyone was on board for the program. Parent volunteers also help in class with students, but first had to learn how to build the intricate Lego projects. Tom Gallagher, parent of Longfellow third grader, volunteered during class on Monday. He said his is a Lego-type family. He bought his daughter the toy when she was younger, but neither ever used them in this kind of way.

"The program is pretty self-explanatory," said Gallagher. "It's really good for the kids. It teaches them to work together, how to follow instructions, and trial and error."

There are no written instructions-everything is assembled using a picture diagram, so putting a piece in the wrong place will throw off the experiment. Martin said that some of the teachers during training struggled to build things. But Gallagher noted many students Monday took to it quickly.

"It's a learning curve for everyone, but it really captivates them," he said. "Some kids get it quickly and some can't, but that's what good about it. Each kid can work at their pace and work together in a team to get it done."