DON'T
PANIC
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page is under construction and I
welcome your comments.
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You can coach a FIRST LEGO League
team.
Honest.
Miss Scarlet, I dun' know nuthin' 'bout workin' with
robots.
In
2004, my son desperately wanted to be on an FLL team. He had,
indeed, been telling me daily since he was 7 and attended the CITY
SITES competition as a spectator, that he "needed" to be on an FLL
team. Figuring his school would have or be willing to start a team,
I blithely agreed to coach
if we
couldn't find a team for him to join. Alas, by the time he was
9, and FLL eligible, we'd started to homeschool. So
despite the
fact that my career path had followed the "road less taken" and I
hadn't studied math or science since high school, I became coach of
the
Johnson School For A Boy Robotics Team.
The
Engineers of Tomorrow, or EOT, as they call
themselves, formed for the 2004 NO LIMITS FLL tournament. Of the 5
original team members, only one had ever used an RCX. I scoured the
web and found some basic building and programming lessons so the
kids could get their feet wet. I led brainstorming sessions focused
on the easiest of the challenge missions . By December, when we
first met with our mentor (see my paean to mentors Matt Stein and
David Brown, below) the EOT was scoring about 140 point on the NO
LIMITS field and had designed an "innovative solution" for their
research project— a robot that retrieves books at the
library.
During the 2006
Nanoquest season, the EOT won the Director's Award in the Rhode
Island State Tournament (January 2007). The EOT advanced to the
World Fest in Atlanta, and scored their personal best, 380 points,
in one round. Frankly, despite doing our personal best, far better
teams ate us for lunch. Yet we remain proud indeed of all the
effort and learning that has happened in the last three
years.
Helping
you take the leap.
I
field a lot of questions from parents who don't think they can cope
with coaching. If I can do it, so can
you. This page is a
practical and blunt guide to life in the "mostly harmless" FLL
universe.
Elsewhere
on the site, you'll find
presentations by other coaches, Robolab
code,
lesson
plans and
training
manuals that,
frankly, are too complex for beginners and guaranteed to scare the
bejeezus out of you. So don't go there
(yet). Stay right
here, where I'll share insider tips, provide photos and links to
illustrate terms that may confuse you, and help your team achieve
their personal best in competition. In the process, you'll gain the
confidence you need to be the proud coach of your very own FLL
team.
If
you don't find the answer to the question(s) you have about the
FLL, please email me, Mary.
I'm happy to help all
coaches, but especially new coaches, get their sea legs.
What
is the FLL?
The
FIRST
LEGO League is a
robotics competition for 9-14 year olds. About 5000 teams compete
in the FLL world-wide. Most teams compete in local tournaments and
the top teams advance to a state championship. Rhode Island will
have one State tournament on January 12, 2007, hosted by
Roger
Williams University in Bristol, RI. On September 5, 2007,
FIRST will announce the details of the POWER PUZZLE
CHALLENGE, this year's
competition. Teams compete in three areas:
The EOT robot in action at the RI FLL Nanoquest Tournament,
January 2007.
The Robot
Game. Each team
receives a box of LEGO parts and instructions to build the playing
field. In September, FIRST announces the specific mission tasks and
the point value of each mission. Teams generally have
between 6 and 10 weeks to design, build and program an autonomous
RCX or NXT robot. At the tournament, each team's robot has two and
a half minutes to earn as many points as possible.
Watch a clip of the EOT competing in the Rhode Island
tournament during the 2006 NANOQUEST
season.
The EOT discuss their robot's programs with tech judges
at Worldfest, April 2007.
In
competition, teams demonstrate their robot and discuss their design
and programming choices with the technical judges during a 15
minute session.
The EOT performing their research presentation skit at the FLL
World Fest, April 2007.
•The
Research Project. The general theme of
this year's POWER
PUZZLE challenge is alternative
energy. FIRST will announce the scope of the research project in
September, but generally, teams are asked to do three
things:
1.) Pick a topic within
the theme and learn more about how it works and what experts are
doing to improve the related technology. 2.) Develop a "innovative
solution" that goes beyond what the experts are doing, or applies
an existing technology in a new way; 3.) Expand the public's
knowledge of the subject by sharing their research and innovative
solution with the community in some way. (Watch a clip of the EOT
presenting their research
project during the 2006
NANOQUEST season.)
The
EOT in the Teamwork Challenge at the FLL WORLD FEST, April
2007.
•The Teamwork Challenge. Throughout the season,
the team is asked to behave graciously, challenge one another to
learn new skills, and work together to solve the FLL Challenge. At
the tournament, teams may be asked to work together on a small
project so judges can observe the team dynamic in action.
All three areas of the
FLL are scored, and the team with the highest cumulative score
receives the CHAMPIONSHIP AWARD and the opportunity to advance to
the FIRST LEGO League World Festival in April 2008. Other awards
recognize team achievement in robot design and programming; robot
performance; research quality; and teamwork.
How
do I start a team?
You
can register a
team through
FIRST. This is a NATIONAL registration fee. Sometime in the fall,
registered teams are contacted by their local
tournament
coordinator with
information about upcoming tournaments. There is a separate
national and local participation fee. You must be
registered nationally in order to
participate in a local tournament!
Where
does a team meet?
Many
middle schools, public, private and parochial, have teams. In some
communities (although not in Rhode Island, as far as I know) the
Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs and 4H support teams. Your church or
library may be willing to rent or loan you space, although you'll
probably have to carry your equipment in and out for each
practice.
The EOT meets in my
house. Realtors call my place a "a cozy dollhouse"--meaning it's
about the size of the little green houses in Monopoly. If you have
enough space to roll out a 4x8 vinyl mat, with enough room to spare
so a half dozen kids and a computer fit around the mat, you have
the minimum amount of space necessary to host a team. Building an
official FLL competition table—a 4x8 with 2x4 bumpers
attached, placed on saw horses, gets the table up off the ground
(easier on the old chick's knees) and gives you roughly 96 cubic
feet of storage underneath for parts, props, craft supplies and
books. We use the living room (now known as the LEGO
room—have I mentioned yet that I have the most fabulous,
understanding and tolerant husband on the planet?) for the robot
stuff, and the kitchen and den for the research project; half the
kids work on the robot and the other half on the project at any
given practice.
How
much does it cost?
FIRST
tells you to budget $1000. for the start-up expenses, assuming you
already own a computer with internet access but don't
own the NXT kit. Here's the
breakdown:
ROBOT
KIT: $250-$325
If
you already own a Mindstorms
NXT or the older
Mindstorms RCX
kit, you can use it,
although you may wish to invest in extra sensors, motors
and wires. If you don't already
own a kit, don't bother with the RCX
unless you
are on an extremely tight budget and can purchase a
used RCX
2.0 kit for less than $75. (TIP
FOR THE FRUGAL-MINDED: Put an ad in the local high school paper
offering to buy RCX equipment. High School kids will sell their
mother for $25 so they can buy tickets to prom. Be very careful
that the kit you buy is the 2.0
version with the
USB
tower, not the 1.0 with
the SERIAL
TOWER.) In the long run, it
is worth every penny to invest in the $325 FLL NXT
kit when you register your
team. It is $75 more expensive than the retail NXT
kit, but comes with more
sensors, extra wires, a nice plastic storage case, and a
rechargeable battery. FIRST will be phasing out use of the RCX over
the next couple of years so if your child is young, scrimp
elsewhere—buy the FLL NXT
kit.
REGISTRATION
FEES $250-$400
There
is an annual, and non-refundable, $200. fee to register
a team for
the National FLL. Local registration fees vary; expect to pay
between $75. and $150. per tournament.
You must register nationally in order to compete in a local
tournament. Some local tournament
directors have grant money available to offset the registration fee
for new teams or for those facing financial hardship. Doesn't hurt
to ask!
FIELD
KIT: $65
When
you register your team, order the $65. field set-up kit that
includes the field
mat, a big box of LEGO
elements and building instructions.
If you are fielding two or more teams, you may share one field
kit.
The registration fees
and field kit are annual expenses. After you've made the initial
investment, you'll spend about $500
annually.
SOFTWARE:
$0-$315
Retail
and
FLL NXT
kits come with NXT-G
software, and it's perfectly fine software that's WIN/MAC
compatible. There are a number of excellent online
tutorials to help you get started.
For reasons I won't detail here, many educators use a competing
software, Tuft's
Robolab; if your child attended
a robotics class or camp in RI, chances are she learned to code
with Robolab, not NXT-G. Choosing to use Robolab will run you
another $120-$310—$70 for a single user license for
Robolab
version 2.5.4 and an additional $50
for the 2.9
upgrade (a must if you're using
the NXT); it's $265 for a 5 computer site license plus $50 for the
2.9 upgrade.
REALITY
CHECK . . .
The
expenses listed above are the tip of the iceberg. Budget for
"extras."
EXTRA
KITS AND COMPUTERS ($325-$900)
•You'll
get more done if you have one NXT kit and one computer for
every three kids. Not every computer
needs access to the internet, but all should have NXT-G or Robolab
installed. At $250-$325 a kit, this adds up fast. If you're using
the RCX kit and Robolab 2.5.4, you can use WIN 98 or MAC 9
computers. These are sometimes offered free through RI Resource
Recovery (aka, the landfill). We've had great
experience with refurbished G3 ibooks, which sell for
$300-$400.
EXTRA
PARTS ($40-$200)
•Expect
your computer and NXT kit to see hard use, even if the kids are
super responsible. Our robot is on at least 4 hours a day during
the season. Wear and tear takes a toll. LEGO parts like
axles,
tires, and gears take a beating and need
to be replaced from time to time. These parts are available from
resellers by the
piece, or from LEGO
directly in
bulk. Buy an
extra
rechargeable battery so practice doesn't
screech to a halt when the robot's battery dies.
TABLE
($50-$70)
•While
you can unroll the mat on the floor, it's easier on YOUR knees if
the mat is at table height. If you choose to build the official FLL
table, you'll spend $50-$70 on lumber, materials and shop
light.
ORGANIZERS
($6-$50)
•After
your vacuum sucks up the umpteenth LEGO, or your realize that the
cardboard box your retail NXT
kit arrived in is useless,
you may decide to purchase a tackle
box, organizer
or
train
case so spare parts have a
home. For extra parts, I absolutely love the LEGO storage
case. Similar to a
train
case, it's cute, reasonably
priced, and holds a ton of parts. To store and transport the robot,
I'm a fan of insulated
coolers. They can be picked up
cheap when the stores are getting rid of the summer stuff
(Building
19 sells the shoulder bag
variety for $6 or $7 a piece). They are padded and roomy, and often
have outside zip or velcro pockets where you can store USB cables,
power cords and all that jazz.
TEAM
GEAR ($25-$150)
•Teams
like wearing identifying items. At World Fest, lab coats, wild hats
and fake hair were popular, and every team had a t-shirt. I'm fond
of Custom Ink
because you
can preview your design online (an option that saved us from making
the hideous mistake of ordering chartreuse
t-shirts)
and order as few as 6 shirts; their work is high quality and they
turn items around fast. You will pay a premium, however. The EOT
paid about $15 per shirt for a full color, cotton t-shirt printed
on the back and front. There are local vendors who are cheaper per
shirt, but most require a minimum of 24 shirts--a big order unless
everyone in the family wants one.
WELCOMING
A PACK OF TEENS INTO YOUR HOME FOR 6-8 WEEKS
($50-$300)
•If
you are hosting meetings in your home, expect your household
expenses to increase. Kids run through tissues, toilet paper,
scotch tape, and printer cartridges. They forget to "sleep" the
computer, keep the stereo on, eat, and don't always remember to
close the front door in the winter time. As one coach told me, "By
the time the tournament rolls around in January, I feel like I
should be able to declare these kids on my W-4."
THE
HUG AFTER YOUR KID'S TEAM WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP
(PRICELESS)
How
do I pay for this?
If
you're coaching a school team, the PTO or Activities Budget may
have funds available. They may even pay you a stipend to coach if
there is not a teacher willing to do so.
Otherwise:
•Annual
expenses can be shared amongst the participating families.
(Many
coaches own a computer and buy the NXT kit, so there is no question
of who keeps the NXT at the end of the season.)
•Some
teams require each participant to purchase and loan one NXT kit and
a computer.
•Robolab
2.5.4 will run on WIN 98 or MAC OS 9. Old Computers are cheap
or free.
•If
you register your team as a non-profit, you might be able to swing
a grant. Long lag time on grants can be a problem. One team in
Lincoln, RI, successfully secured a legislative grant to underwrite
part of their equipment costs for the 2006 season.
•Corporate
sponsors are out there, especially if you have friends or families
working in the technology industry. If you're willing to beat the
bush and put their name on the kids' t-shirts, you can probably
fund your start up costs with OPM.
•Fundraisers:
car washes, spaghetti suppers, bake sales, yard sales.
Where
do I find 3-10 kids?
Honestly,
robotics is hot right now, and nearly every parent of elementary
and middle school kids wants their kid to have that "edge" that
comes from being on an FLL team. Tell anyone with a 9-14 year old
that you want to start a team and you'll soon be besieged with
phone calls. I recommend you screen the kids (AND PARENTS!)
somehow, because not every kid who loves to BUILD with LEGO bricks
wants to build and program ROBOTS. Kids who aren't that into it
distract and disrupt their more focused team members and make your
job harder.
There are several ways
to "vet" kids. You can host an "LEGO PLAY DAY", providing a box of
LEGO and snacks for any family in your social/school/church circle.
Observe the kids playing, and chat informally with the parents.
Invite the ones with whom you seem to get along, those who play
well with others, or those who offer a unique skill that fills a
niche within the group.
Ask someone who teaches
LEGO robotics classes to teach a class for a group, or sign your
kid up for a class. Again, observe the kids play together and you
will learn a lot about group dynamics. Also, the instructor may be
willing to make recommendations on kids who will mix well with your
child. I teach LEGO robotics classes in Rhode Island and nearby MA,
and will offer a special class for potential FLL kids on request.
Am also happy to refer you to other instructors in the
area.
Some schools require
kids to write an essay explaining why they want to be part of the
FIRST LEGO League, figuring that if they aren't motivated enough to
write 100 words about the subject, they won't follow through during
the season.
I recommend a team of 5
or 6 your first year. Six is about right—enough kids to
brainstorm effectively, but not so many that meetings feel like
herding cats.
One last thing: FLL kids
must be between 9 and 14 years old on January 1 of the year the
Challenge
starts. In other words, a kid
who turns 15 between January 2, 2007-December 31, 2007, may compete
in the
2007
tournament season. This gets confusing
for teams in Rhode Island, because our 2007 tournament occurs in
2008—January 12, 2008, to be precise. I find it helpful to
think about when the season starts, rather than when it ends: If a
kid is between 9 and 14 on January 1, he is eligible to compete in
the upcoming FLL season.
I
don't know anything about programming or robot building, can I
still coach?
Yes!
Coaches take on many roles in the FLL, and you can tailor the job
to fit your skills. I'm the EOT's executive (translation: bossy)
organizer—scheduling practices, planning mini-lessons,
driving the kids to interviews with experts, raising money, helping
the kids find the resources they need to solve their own problems,
and acting as the human border collie who keeps them all moving in
the right direction.
If you don't have a
technical background, you have a number of options:
1.)
Help the students teach themselves more about programming and
building. There is more to this
than handing the kids an NXT kit and telling them to "go to". But
they don't need to be spoon-fed either. If you only buy one book,
make it LEGO Technic Tora no Maki, an absolutely
beautiful 214 page pdf file that has pictures and ideas on how to
use LEGO pieces to build things that move. Best of all, it's only
1000 yen, or $10 US. Set your kids loose building some of the
(simple!) models in this book and they will learn much about
mechanical engineering. Beyond that, I help locate
books,
websites,
and classes
so the kids
can learn independently. Facilitation mixed with direct
instruction, helps the kids become self-directed and self-reliant
learners with good research skills. The FLL is so much fun that
you'll find yourself learning along with them!
2.)
Find a mentor. The FLL encourages teams
to learn from professionals. The EOT were astoundingly lucky to
recruit Dr. Matt
Stein, a professor at
Roger
Williams University's School of Engineering, Computing and
Construction Management. A Mechanical Engineer
with a PhD in Robotics (Check out ihands,
his latest creation), Matt (wonder of wonders) had FLL experience
and was capable of communicating at a 10 year olds' level. I
politely nagged him for months before he agreed to attend one
practice to critique our NO LIMITS robot; he never left, and for
the past three years has helped the EOT develop their building and
programming skills.
During Ocean Odyssey, we
were doubly blessed; software quality expert David
Brown joined the team as a
mentor. David's son enrolled in one of my LEGO camps
and joined
the team for the '05
season. Unfortunately, a new
job with a long commute took David away from us during
NANOQUEST,
but he helped enormously with our trip to World Fest, serving as an
EOT fundraiser, chaperone and lead photographer; he is currently
helping the team develop solutions to software issues (like keeping
track of changes in the code).
So
how do you find a mentor? Talk the FLL up to your
friends, neighbors and coworkers—you never know unless you
ask that one of your friends works with someone who is married to a
roboticist. An engineer or programmer without FLL experience may be
willing to help the kids with more general engineering and design
skills. (Playing with LEGO is a learned skill, and not all adult
engineers remember or care to learn.) Contact your local
engineering and professional associations (ASME,
IEEE,
ASQ,
SWE,
NSBE
to list a
few); contact the Engineering or Computer Science Department at the
local University; call the HR or Public Relations department at
local tech businesses.
3.)
Recruit a High School Student. There are high school
kids who fondly remember their FLL days. They may not have as much
industry experience as a professional, but they WILL know their way
around a LEGO table. High School students often have to fulfill a
community service requirement to graduate, and might be happy to
help. Contact the Tech Ed instructor or Guidance Counselor at your
local high school, or consider putting an ad in the school's
paper.
4.)
Delegate. You have a ready base of
volunteers—the parents of the kids on your team. Ask them to
share their skills with the team, when it's relevant. We have
parents come in from time to time to help the kids develop graphic
design, public speaking and general science skills.
5.)
The internet is a great FLL teaching tool. Youtube
is rife with
video of FLL teams in action. Watching teams solve challenges from
previous years is a great way to gather ideas before a
brainstorming session. The Official LEGO NXT
blog has pictures of FLL
robots that your team can analyze and adapt.
How
Much Time does the FLL Take?
You
can build a season that works for you, whether you have 2, 10 or
100 hours to devote to the FLL each week. Set goals that match your
needs, and make sure you communicate your goals to the team and
their parents. It's important to remember that you don't have to
solve every mission in the robot game. Nor are you required to
conduct an extensive research project with field trips and public
speaking events. Like in soccer and other sports, some teams are
set up to be primarily recreational and others to be competitive.
There will be teams at your competition who solve one or two
missions and those who don't bother with the research project at
all. There will also be teams who score over 350 points (out of
400) and who have a polished project. Set reasonable goals for your
first season (Complete 2 or 3 missions, learn about alternative
energy), and let your team grow from there.
Most
teams meet once or twice a week for most of the season, and nearly
daily for the last couple of weeks. (Especially with teens, work
expands to fill allotted time!) No matter how often you meet or how
much you get accomplished, SIGN UP FOR, and PARTICIPATE IN, a
TOURNAMENT. You'll see some teams tearing their robot apart between
rounds to redesign it and others who hardly touch their robot at
all. No matter what, the team
will learn so much from competing alongside other teams, and they
will have fun and be happy they went.
What
do the Kids do at Practice?
Some
coaches have a weekly lesson
plan so the kids
are developing skills all season long. When you register
your team, you'll receive a
100 page handbook that includes FLL guidelines and sample schedules
that you may want to follow. I found that the kids
benefited from this kind of structure when they were 9 and 10. Now
that they are 13 and 14, I help the kids set goals, and to chart
those goals into a calendar with weekly to-do lists. If they know
what needs to get done each week, they stay pretty
focused.
What
needs to be done?
•LEARN
the Competition Rules. The FLL uses very specific language and the
rules of each year's challenge can be complex. Every year, there
are teams who find themselves disappointed or panicked at the
tournament because they didn't read the rules and incorrectly
guessed what needed to be done to earn point for a mission. READ
the rules, and stay up to date on the clarifications that Scott
Evans posts on the FLL
website. As
Matt, our mentor says, "These kids talk endlessly about every minor
detail of WORLD OF
WARCRAFT, they are capable of
reading and learning the rules of the FLL."
•Design and build a
robot to move around on the playing field. Two tires, Four tires,
treads? A new team will need time to explore their options and test
different designs. Agreeing on a single design can be a challenge
for a big team, and you may need to facilitate these discussions so
ensure the debate stays clear of petty personal attacks. Keep in
mind that many adults are lousy at teamwork (witness
Dilbert
) and help
the kids learn to communicate honestly but with
integrity.
•Brainstorm
strategies to solve the specific missions and earn
points.
•Conduct research
for the project.
•Develop a research
presentation that is no longer than 5 minutes long.
•Write handouts or
keep a journal that describe the robot and your research
presentation. If they maintain this practice week to week, they'll
have materials to share with the judges at the
competition.
Who
am I?
I'm
Mary Johnson, the coach of the Engineers of Tomorrow, or the E.O.T.
as they prefer to be called now that they are a bunch of teens and
tweens too cool for the name they picked out when they were 9 year
olds.
A background in
Engineering, Computer Science or Robotics I do not have. I'm
a Gen-Xer
who took a
portable electric typewriter to college. Studied theatre history,
stage management and lighting design—hardly the hard
sciences. Didn't start using a computer until the middle of
the Reagan
Administration when my first boss,
Stage Manager extraordinaire Mike
Brunner, and his
Apple
computer,
made it easy for folks like me to join the computer revolution.
Worked as a stage
manager, a personal assistant to
Sandy, the world's most famous mutt, and a fundraiser before
becoming a Liturgist for the Order of Friars
Minor— Holy Name Province. This last one isn't as
odd as it seems—I was basically one of God's Stage
Managers—making sure 5 daily masses and 8 weekend masses were
celebrated with the necessary accoutrements and as much charm as
one can muster out of a Friar at 6 AM. Currently, I manage the
career of performer Keith Michael
Johnson, presenter of original
educational science and math assemblies in elementary schools
and You-Tube
sensation for his beautiful and
bizarre soap bubble
performance art. I coach the EOT,
teach
classes in LEGO robotics to homeschool and
after-school groups, and mentor FLL coaches for fun . .
.
Special Offer from
TECHRESTORE for friends of the EOT. Enter the offer code "LEGO" and
receive $10 off your order of $90 or more.
Links
we've found helpful.
Watching
video of other
teams
is a great way to learn about FLL Robots and get new ideas. Here's
another batch of
FLL videos.
Lesson
Plans and Robot Activities
The
EOT Nanoquest Tech Manual
PPT presentations on building and programming
Building_FLL_Robots
LEGO Mobile
Robotics
robotbuilding101v1.1
Teaching RoboLab to
Students.5
Ever wonder what FLL judges are looking for?
From Marie Hopper, a
table ref at the FLL World Tournament, April
2006.
I
was the ref with the fish pants at table 2B. On Thursday, I had a
shark hat and on Friday an alligator hat.
My opinion - not an
official FLL one!
Table manners: I really
enjoyed polite teams who were clearly having fun. Some teams, while
not rude, were also not friendly, either. They tended to answer
questions during the down times with one word or not at all. Teams
that responded with a thank you when told they had done a good job
at the end of a round vs teams that just grunted - a good example
of gracious professionalism in action!
Here are some random
observations from my stint as a ref:
Only ONE team (and this
was true from ALL the tables, not just mine - we noticed it enough
to discuss it at one of our ref meetings) bothered to speak to the
other team at the table and shake hands afterwards. They were a
delightful team from the Netherlands. And they were very
complimentary to other team's robots.
Coaches who tell the
kids what to tell the refs - we do notice. In my opinion, it's bad.
The coach who is busy "scripting" what the kids needs to do and
say, to me, shows that they don't trust the kids to be smart enough
to do it themselves. I'm a big believer in allowing and trusting
kids to do what is necessary to achieve their goals. I think the
rule that only the team members can speak to the refs is a good one
and coaches who whisper to the kids "tell the ref ....." are
circumventing the rule and missing a terrific learning opportunity
for
the children.
As refs, we do our best
to help the team feel at ease, comfortable and relaxed. We let the
kids know we are on their side, not against them. We cheer their
successes and groan with them at the crashes. We ask if the table
looks ok. We go through the score sheet with as many of the team as
they like. I feel that a coach needs to allow the team some
autonomy and freedom to experience the event without constant adult
interference and scripting. If the team has been well-coached all
season, such constant prodding should be unnecessary.
Coaches who yell to the
kids to remember to do something - this only made the child more
nervous and upset. Better to keep it cool at all times and let them
make their own mistakes.
Teams with high scores
had robots that didn't care what the field conditions were like.
They were able to score regardless of minute changes in the
position of items on the field. Some teams were extremely picky
about placement. They didn't seem to score as well overall.
Never rely on the ref as
part of your team strategy. A couple of teams were counting on the
ref being able to move things out-of-the-way, often with very
little time before the robot needed to be in that space. The ref is
not always able to be in a position to do what you have asked as
quickly as you might like and without damage to the field or robot.
And some of us refs are short! We can't reach the middle of the
table quickly and easily.
2 of the 3 high scorers
had robots that clearly accomplished the missions - cleanly,
fairly, obviously. They didn't rely on grey shades of the rules or
interpretations. They simply did the mission. They were a pleasure
to watch!
Success? For me, one of
the teams that stands out in my memory as a success this weekend
was the team that placed last in score. When they came to my table
for their final run of the event, they told me they were in last
place. But.....they were still clearly having fun, they had met
lots of other teams and knew kids by name, and they still gave it
their all during that 2 1/2 minute run. They didn't get upset or
flustered. And when they got their lowest score yet in that run,
they smiled and said "next year!" And when asked what they had
learned, they had a huge list! Very cool group of girls.
And this from Misha
Holt, a Research Judge at the FLL World
Festival:
It
is very evident when the kids are having fun and learning rather
than being over powered by coaches and mentors.
As a project judge we
got to see the team presentations. Which were all wonderful! But we
definitely noticed very quickly when a coach or mentor was "running
the show" Judges are most impressed by the teams that have it
together and don't have an adult running everything. By the time
you make it to World Fest it should be the norm for teams to stand
on their own.
It wasn't the
problem/solution specifically that held a team out in our minds so
much as the teams' ability to cover the points of the project
requirements well with evidence of true learning and enthusiasm
about
their topic.
It is also to be noted
that the Director's Award Winners were high in all categories
including research. I think we all know this to be true but it was
really neat to see that shake out in "real time" during the
deliberations. It is amazing to witness almost 50 judges across
multiple categories come to a consensus on the top teams.
As for research topics
we saw the whole spectrum discussed... effects of cruise ships on
the environment with solutions to minimize the introduction of
contaminates to the ocean by utilizing the methane gasses in
various ways, underwater mining, netting issues for fish and other
marine life, a smart fishing hook that could prick for DNA to tell
if it was the correct species or not, coral reefs and building of
arificial coral reefs, polluted waters and clean ups in various
forms, oil spills with robotic oil skimmers to help with clean up,
watersheds and the effects of what we do at home that runs off into
the oceans including the health of tide pools and which specific
tide pool your watershed affected, underwater planting and farming,
sea turtles, belugas, and
right whales and how to
help keep these species from becoming extinct, education for the
public about their activities that effect the oceans, and much more
that I am sure I am missing in this brief recall of 80+
teams.
Some really cool
presentations included an extensive board game developed by the
Brazilian team (5481) to educate classrooms about dangers facing
our oceans and a team from PA (96) wrote and illustrated a
book
titled Big Lessons for
Little Fish that is all ready in their local libraries. Many teams
had videos or slide shows or stop animations but it was not the
presentation medium that influenced the judges so much as
the
teams' ability to tie
their problem and solution together and demonstrate clear research
into the issues. A team could have a great video or slide show but
if they couldn't talk about their topic inteligently the
video became obsolete.
In addition to videos, some teams had hands on demos of how
filtration systems would work or diaramas of how the environment
would be impacted positively by their solution, etc.
One simple yet effective
solution was offered by team 5480 from Brazil. They researched ways
to deter sea turtles from becoming entangled in fishing nets.
Pepper and two other scents (which I don't remember) were
identified through
experiements as deterants. They then made and tied sachets with
these scents to the nets to deter the turtles from the fisherman's
catch. They have fishermen using this practice and have
followed up to find that
these fishermen no longer have sea turtles caught in their
nets.
Hope that helps some of
you with how the research project was approached from various
angles. And how impressed we were by all of the teams.
On a final note I would
add, get involved with your regional tournaments. Go and volunteer
at tournaments in your area where your teams are not competing. You
will gain so much from it. And you will begin to see in "real time"
all the things we teach our teams throughout the year being put
into practice. It is truly amazing the opportunities and lessons
that FLL affords these teams. They all win in life, whether they
have a trophy to go with it or not. We are giving them the tools to
be successful in whatever path they choose for their lives. A
trophy collects dust but those lessons last a lifetime!
Tips from experienced FLL coaches
Interview with Ken
Streeter, Mindstorms Mayhem
Tips
from the Gallagher's of the FUNKY MONKEYS
Looking
for a place to get small orders of t-shirts for your
team?
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