FLL Tournament Teams and Coaches,



  It's been 8 1/2 weeks since the Food Factor Challenge was released,

and over the next three weeks almost 430 teams will compete in the

Virginia/DC Qualifying tournaments.



  What should you expect?  You'll visit with three different sets of

judges to show them what you can do. You'll take your robot to the

competition floor at least 4 times to play the Robot Game.  You'll

meet lots of other teams who have learned about food safety and how to

build and program robots--just like you!  It will be a busy and fun

day.



  What will happen in judging?  What are the judges looking for, anyway?

The judges will all be using the Food Factor Rubrics to let you know

what they see.  The rubrics are in your Coach's Handbook, and on the

web at http://firstlegoleague.org/sites/default/files/Challenge/FoodFactor/Combined_Rubrics_FINAL.pdf



  Most judging sessions in VA/DC FLL are about 10 minutes long.  They

each have different formats.



Project Judging:  During the first five minutes of the session, you

set up and present the project presentation that tells about your

research problem, solution, and sharing.  [Yes, setup time is part of

the 5 minutes.]  For the rest of the session, the judges will ask you

questions about your research and solution so that they can understand

all the things that you've done.



Core Values Judging:  The judges will give you a few minutes to work

as a team on a secret task.  Then they'll spend about 5 minutes asking

you questions so they can see how your team understands and lives the

FLL Core Values.  By the way, the secret task is just for fun--the

judges are really mostly interested in how you work together.



Robot Design Judging:  Be ready to talk about what your robot can do,

and how you designed it and programmed it to work on the Challenge

missions, and why you made the choices you did.  The judges will have

a Robot Game table, and will probably ask you to demonstrate one or

two of your favorite programs.



  Lots of experienced teams like to use one of their last meetings to

practice being in the judging sessions.  Maybe you'll have the chance

to show your families everything your team can do.



Tournament Schedule:

  Your tournament will give you a schedule telling you when you are

supposed to be at judging and at the tables.  Try to be there 5

minutes ahead of time--that's the gracious and professional way to

behave.  You should wait quietly until your team is asked to

enter--the judges have to spend some time between teams in order to

mark down their evaluation.  You'll get those judging sheets back at

the end of the day to provide feedback about what your team did well,

and where they can look to improve.



Judging Etiquette for Coaches and Mentors

  FLL Judging in VA/DC is not open to spectators.  (Note that some

tournaments may have more open judging because of their specific host

facility.)



  Each team is permitted to have two coach/mentors in the judging room

as observers.  A third person may also be present, serving as a team

historian, with a camera or recorder.  Observers are expected to

minimize their disturbance of the team by not speaking and staying to

the sides or back of the judging room.  Some teams may choose not to

have observers during judging.



  Gracious Professionalism applies to all attending the tournament

(team members, coaches, parents, spectators, volunteers, etc.). Our

purpose is to celebrate the accomplishments of all FLL participants

during the season.  Please remember to focus on that.





Awards

  Judging and awards are discussed at http://firstlegoleague.org/event/judging

Awards are given in each age Division to teams who are worthy of

recognition.  In accordance with FLL policy, teams must participate in

all 3 judged areas (Project, Core Values and Robot Design) and the

Robot Game to be eligible for any Core Awards. In addition, teams are

only eligible to win one judged award at the tournament.



  We'll celebrate and recognize the achievements of all teams during

our closing ceremonies, so be ready to cheer!



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