1. 4-H Problem-Solving, Teamwork and Fun through LEGO Mindstorm Robotics
And FIRST LEGO League Teams
Candy on each person’s seat with handout
Split up candy so that we hand out three kind of candies….Snickers, Milky Way and 3 Musketeers to split up the groups into three different sections
Welcome, we are excited that you are interested in learning more about LEGO Mindstorm NXT Robots and the fun and learning that can take place for youth in building and if they choose competing in the Iowa FIRST LEGO League Competition.
FIRST LEGO League is a competition where teams of up to 10 youth from ages 9-14 participate in equipping a robot to accomplish up to 20 tasks on a Challenge Field. Each year there is a different Challenge. This year the Challenge is Climate Connection so teams are challenged to complete tasks on the Challenge Field that deal with the study of Climate and working with Climate challenges in their communities. I won’t go any further into the FLL as we have the Iowa FIRST LEGO League contact here and she will go more heavily into the FIRST LEGO League program.
Kids are really excited to work with the NXT Robots. They love playing with LEGOs and we had over 30 kids sign up wanting to join our FIRST LEGO League 4-H Club.

2. So what is a LEGO MINDSTORM EV3 Robot?
So what is a LEGO Mindstorm Robot
It is actually a fairly simple but sophisticated Robotics system that you can use to build programmable machines and robots.
It starts with the Brick or Computer base which is a small computer which the youth will learn to program
They run up to 3 motors which allow It to move and operate a additional tools such a s opening and closing a tool that can grab things or move a piece up or down to capture objects
and up to four different sensors to give it some ability to react to it’s surroundings…
The sensors are a touch sensor gives your robot the sense of touch , the light sensor can distiinguish between light and dark colors it may encounter on the surface and guide your robot, an ultrasonic metter that can detect how far away from something you are and a sound sensor which allows your robot to detect sounds and react
I don’t want to get too complicated with the sensors because you will mostly work with kids on the mechanical attachments they will build to accomplish tasks.

3. What can this robot do with your Programming and Engineering Design?
These are simple robots…the one on the left is set up to strike the ball like a golf club and the one on the right is your base robot for attaching implements to for accomplishing tasks.
Click on What can you do with it? And Alt-Tab to IE to see video on what is it.
Don’t worrry…you don’t have to know that much about the robot as the kids will start building almost immediatedly and far exceed what you would have built.
I was amazed at our kids and how quickly they got into building off the base to get to a working robot that could do things.
What can this robot do with your
Programming and Engineering Design?

4. What is 4-H FIRST LEGO League?
Teams of up to 10 kids and guided by at least one adult coach, team members have about 10 weeks to work on the Annual Challenge
Each annual Challenge has two parts, the Project and the Robot Game
Slide 2—Vibrancy and Enthusiasm
Briefly (within 30 seconds), introduce self, club, and give one example of what energized you from the last 4-H year.
(If group is large, introductions can be done in small groups.)

5. The 3 Rs of FIRST LEGO League
Robots– learning to program the robots, build add-ons to accomplish the tasks set forth in the challenge on the Challenge Field in the 2.5 minute opportunity to showcase their robot and programming
Research- Learning about the challenge and how our community can make a difference and presenting it in a creative way
Report– Defend the robot, your programming, your teamwork and your research project

6. FIRST LEGO League Core Values
We are a team
We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors
We honor the spirit of friendly competition
What we discover is more important than what we win
We share our experiences with others
We display gracious professionalism in everything we do
We have fun

8. FIRST LEGO League 4-H Clubs
Decision-making
Communication
Leadership
And Citizenship—Connecting research to community
Open House Presentations
County Fair Club Project and Demonstrations

9. Regional Competition Technical Interview Run Missions completed
for 5 minutes
Explain how you designed your Apparatuses
Share how your design
Process progressed

10. Regional Competition Teamwork Interview Accomplish Task
Share how you worked
as a team
What did you learn
working together?
What role did each player take?
How did you get along?

11. Regional Competition Project Research Presentation
Research a community connection to the year’s theme
Brainstorm a way your community could impact that theme
Plan a project to impact that theme
Plan a creative way to share
Share it with the community
5 Minutes including Setup

12. Regional Competition Robotics Challenge
2 ½ minutes to complete as many missions as possible
Only 2 members at the board at one time…can tag and change
Use only one robot
Must practice changing apparatuses so that doesn’t slow you up
Don’t shy away from Regional if you only have a few missions completed

13. 2014 Challenge Engineering and How we Learn
What is the future of learning? FIRST® LEGO® League teams will find the answers.  In the 2014 FLL WORLD CLASS℠ Challenge, over 230,000 children ages 9 to 16* from over 70 countries will redesign how we gather knowledge and skills in the 21st century. Teams will teach adults about the ways that kids need and want to learn.  Get ready for a whole new class – FLL WORLD CLASSSM!
FLL challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers. 

14. How do teams get Started?
Starting to build the LEGO pieces that make up each of the missisons
You will download the instructions for building the Mission Model Pieces
Check out the Mission pieces, pictures and video of the how the constructed LEGO piece fits into the World Class Challenge on Youtube when the challenge is released on August 26 …see what your Robot has to do to accomplish each mission
Lay out the mat and start building the pieces that go on it

15. How do we get started?
Jump into the Challenge Theme “World Class” for Find out and imagine how young people and really all people will learn best in the future the things they need to know for jobs, hobbies and living in our communities. Contact some experts that can help you learn about the theme and apply technology to a possible innovative solution that would improve your lives or the lives of others in your community. Get a good foundation of ideas and knowledge to build on for your project and project presentation.

16. How do we get started?
3. Start learning about building the robot and programming it
Build a robot…there are lots of sites online to help you design the building of your robot. Just get one built so you can start programming. Just Google LEGO EV3 Building Instructions
Build the standard Driving Base in Manual with kit
Begin the EV3 Tutorial in the programming software or online to learn how to use the software to program the robot