Welcome to the Trash Trek
season. Everyone is excited about the robot and missions, but
that is just part of First Lego League. In addition to
robot performance, teams will participate in Core Values,
Project/Research and Robot Design judging sessions.
These components are a big part of First LEGO League.
Here is some information to help you
prepare.
Judging Rubric
Team Information
Sheet
Project Judging
Room
For Project, you will have 5
minutes, including setup time, to present your solution.
After you present, there will be a 5 minute
Q&A.
Robot Design
This is an opportunity for the
team to discuss and demonstrate their robot. Plan for a 10
minute judging session. There will be a mission table setup
for the team to use. Teams should be prepared to run missions
and discuss how they built and programmed their robot. I
would highly recommend having some program print outs. Not
all of your programs, just what you want to highlight. If
your team chooses to prepare a technical notebook that shows the
evolution of the strategy, robot and programming, that can be
beneficial.
Core Values
For Core Values, teams will be
given a challenge and less than 5 minutes to conduct the
challenge. After the challenge, there will be a brief
Q&A session. There is very high probability the team will
be asked about Gracious Professionalism, Core Values and
Coopertition™.
Judging Rooms
Judging sessions are closed
sessions. The team plus 3 observers (two coaches/mentors and
one historian are allowed to observe). You can just send in
the team and no observers. To demonstrate core values, teams
should be silent while waiting outside a judging room.
Judging rooms are typically class rooms. You will need bring
in all your presentation supplies. (Note, Robot Design will
have a mission table setup. You do not need to provide
mission components.)
Helpful Resources
I hope you find this
information useful. First Lego League is a community of
volunteers and there are many people and resources for
teams. If you have questions about judging,
please contact me at
[log in to unmask]. If the
answer to your question is likely to benefit the group at large, I
will respond via the list serve. I would also encourage
you to volunteer at a tournament. Volunteering to judge is
one the best ways to learn. Sign-up to volunteer at
http://va-dcfll.org/volunteer/volunteer-form/.
Scott Rakestraw
Judge Advisor