THE SHORT VERSION
Does your son or daughter like Lego? Do you want them to learn about
science and technology, learn how to be part of a team, how to do
research and present and how to get involved in their community ? If
so, First Lego League (FLL) may be for you.
For the past 5 years, I've coached an FLL team comprised of 3-8
home-school kids ages 9-14. *I've* learned a lot. I'm willing to run
a "coaches workshop" to get others started on the journey.
I will be running a workshop for perspective parents and kids at
Fresta Valley Christian School on Tuesday, May 5 2009 at 7pm. We'll run
last
years robot and talk about what's involved in starting and coaching a
team. RSVP requested. I'll keep the "meeting" to 1 hour and leave
some time for people to talk/form potential teams.
Fresta is located @ 6428 Wilson Rd, Marshall, VAý (Google Maps can be
your friend). Warning: it takes longer than you think to get there.
THE LONG VERSION
What will the kids do ?
They will design and build a robot using the Lego NXT kit. They will
research an assigned engineering related problem and solutions and
develop and give presentations. The "season" is 8 weeks during
September and October. They will work on their robot, research and
presentation during the season, and then compete in a regional
tournament. The tournaments are kind of a cross between a science
fair and a pep rally. The teams will be judged on four areas: Robot
Performance (how well it does the assigned tasks on a 4'x8' playing
field), Robot Design (how good was their design and programming),
Presentation (research, presentation, community impact/involvement),
and Teamwork.
To give you a sample, over the past few years, our team has met with
the board of elders at a local church to propose ways to make the
building more accessible handicapped people, attended lectures on
nano-technology, gotten tours of robotics labs, researched ways to
make the local library more energy efficient, presented their findings
to the library board and county supervisors, researched "dehydration
at outdoor events", including talking to concert organizers and
paramedics, developed various skits/presentations including two short
"lego-mation" videos. Their efforts have been written up in the local
papers several times.
How much time will it take ?
You get out what you put in. At a minimum, 2 meetings a week for 8
weeks + competing at "tournament". Things tend to get hectic towards
the end when the robot breaks, nothing is working right, the
presentation is not quite done, the team needs to practice running,
etc. It's kind of like finals week for kids (not a bad skill to learn
early).
Who should be involved ?
There are plywood tables and lighting fixtures to be built,
gear-ratios to be explored, simple programming to be learned, science
and engineering topics to be explored...good opportunities for dads to
get involve. We have had one parent be "research coordinator",
"presentation coordinator", admin/registration coordinator, treasurer,
etc. In the end though, the kids are supposed to *do* the work
themselves.
What will it cost ?
Our team of 6 spent $800 last year for registration fees, t-shirts,
handouts, the "field pieces",etc. A new team might have to buy a Lego
NXT robot kit (~$400, good for multiple years), build a table ($75),
etc.
What else will be needed ?
A place to meet. A few computers. All the lego you can get your
hands on (NO MEGABLOCKS !)
Questions?
Contact me, George Jones <[log in to unmask]> or 540 272 7468.
FOR MORE INFO
The FLL Homepage
http://www.usfirst.org/firstlegoleague/community/homepage.html
Some pictures and stories form this years "World Festival" in Atlanta:
http://vadcfllatlanta08.blogspot.com/
A team blog from a few years ago
http://botbrains2005.blogspot.com/
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