John,
 
I agree with Eric, do not skip the project. If you skip the project, not only are you losing out on 100 points but your students are missing the opportunity to learn about food saftey. I have found that my students have learned a great deal about this topic (food saftey), which is one of the goals of the competition!

Addressing your second point, please take your students a tournament! This experience alone with motivate them to want to come back next year and compete! I hope this helps.
 
All the best,
 
Marcel P. Anderson
AF Robotics Coach

On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Eric Palmer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
You do not need to do the project.  Of course you would not be eligible for awards but that sounds like the least of your concerns.

You might want to consider discussing food factor (food safety) with the team so that they learn something about it.

More importantly, do take the team to a tournament.  Go with the intention of having fun and learning.  Even if your don't feel that your robot is ready it is beneficial to go. The team will have fun. The passion of FIRST will rub off and the team will be better able to handle everything next year if they see a tournament in action.

Good Luck
Eric Palmer
Team #7 - The Rainbow Cows


On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 5:43 PM, John Britto <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
We are a rookie team just getting started with the 2011 tournament requirements.
In the interest of time, we may have to focus on the robot game and not work on the Project/presentation.  Is this something that is ok to do?
Our team of 7 is barely functioning together and our time may be better spent working on the game!  

Thanks,
John Britto

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--
Marcel Anderson
Lego Robotics Program Coordinator
Alexandria Fairfax Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. 
C (954) 655-6576
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"What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself." Abraham Maslow


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