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Hi John. Thanks for starting this discussion!

I think you are on the right track. From the challenge statement: 

How can you use technology and the arts to help engage others or increase participation in what you love to do?

Possible hobby: Your "drawing" example is perfect. Drawing is in itself an art, but it didn't have to be. It could just as easily have been skateboarding. Or solving puzzles. Or writing computer programs. Doing math problems. Anything that the kids like doing.

Possible problem: And so your challenge in this case would indeed be how to engage others OR increase participation in drawing.

Research: Certainly, how people share drawings. But also how are they created? What materials are needed? What about different drawing styles? Why do we draw? What are the purposes of drawings? Entertain? Inform? Warn? How do people make money from drawings? How do we determine the target audience for different drawings? And so on. While doing the research, think about what experts are out there? Certainly professional artists, but if you are creating a drawing that needs to be understood by a driver in a car driving 65mph, are there people that are experts in designing those types of drawings? Or architects? What about drawings for children? Who are experts in knowing what children like? What about creating technical drawings?

Solution: Maybe your team decides after doing research that different drawing styles are interesting to them. I just did a single google search on "different drawing styles" and I saw somewhere between 8 and 80 listed. Who knew?? Could you come up with a new drawing style? Maybe a "drawing" that also stimulates other senses. What kind of drawings help computer programmers? Certainly flow charts come to mind, so is there a way to improve flow chart designs. Think about who you will share your research and solutions with, and how will they be validated as being effective? Did your proposed solution meet the goal?

Without a doubt this season is a little (ok a LOT) different from past seasons. The very best advice I can give is to read the rubric! John, your last sentence got cut off but it looked like you were about to say something about the rubric. If you have some specific questions or comments about the rubric, absolutely post them here.

Skip Morrow

On Tue, Aug 22, 2023 at 6:03 AM John Sammons <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Guiding team members through the innovation problem can sometimes seem daunting for any coach.

I am starting a discussion post to see how other coaches are interpreting this year's problem.

Having the team choose one hobby will be the first challenge. the  team will face.

Here is a sample that I have come up with. It is not intended to "give" the team answers but rather to help coaches understand the many pages of information provided by FLL.


Possible Hobby
Drawing

Possible Problem
Finding a fun way to get more students interested in drawing.

Research
Explore the many ways people share drawing with others. (Drawing books, Online classes, etc.)

Solution
How can you use technology and the arts to help engage others or increase participation in drawing? The rubric says

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