1. Rookie Year FIRST LEGO ® League September 15, 2009 For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

2. Agenda Introductions Introduction to FIRST, FLL & Video Resources & top 10 questions Judging Process & Awards Questions & Discussion

3. Organization & Programs K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Grade Level FIRST Programs FIRST LEGO League FIRST Tech Challenge FIRST Robotics Competition Jr. FIRST LEGO League

4. Introduction to FLL FLL was created as the “Little League” to FIRST Robotics Reaches more than 100,000 children 45 Countries involved around the globe A quote from a student, who attended an FLL tournament, to his father following the tournament, “Dad, this was the best day of my life” "You have a lifetime to work, but children are only young once." -- Polish Proverb

5. Growth Problem Solving and Creativity Present kids with a real-world problem Unleash thinking, energy, and fun 2009 Challenge: “Smart Move” Teams of Kids and Mentors Work as a team Learn with adults and mentors Do It All In 8 Weeks A timeline to learn efficiency and effectiveness Compete with peers in tournament FLL FIRST LEGO League: How It Works Organization & Programs

6. Introduction to FLL Program promoting science and technology for kids ages 9 to 14 Season includes: –Researching and solving a real-world problem with a team based on the Challenge theme –Presenting the research and solutions –Building an autonomous robot using engineering concepts The robot, project, and demonstration of teamwork are displayed at a qualifying event and teams have the opportunity to attend a championship competition and possibly the World Festival or Open Tournament Lifelong skills gained from the program include: –Technical building skills. –Computer programming. –Design skills. –Communication skills. –Research and presentation skills. –Persistence. –Planning skills. –Engineering skills. –Experimentation techniques. –Value of risk taking. –Decision making models. –Respect for and trust in others. –Teamwork and cooperation.

7. The Challenge The Challenge is the annual game revealed to FLL teams each September during the on line kick off. Teams must determine a strategy to accomplish various Challenge missions and accumulate points. In addition, the Challenge theme and related Research Project requires teams to investigate current issues facing our modern world. This combined process brings the reality of science and technology to children on a more intimate, hands-on level.

8. The Challenge

9. The Project

10. The challenge –Look at your community and discover how people, animals, information, and things travel. –Pick one main mode of transportation and do some research. Identify a Problem –Begin your project by describing your community. This season, it is up to your team to define your community. Is it your school? your neighborhood? your city, village, or town? your country? the world? Be prepared to share how you defined your community. –Pick one way that people and things move in your community and learn more about it! –What makes your mode of transportation dangerous? What prevents people, information, animals, and things from getting where they need to go? Search out the problems. Look at reports. Read books. Browse websites. Conduct a survey. Check with experts who work in and around your community. Use any research tools you have available. Create an Innovative Solution –Choose one of the problems and suggest a solution. What can be done to fix the problem? What will it take to make your team’s solution happen? How will your solution help your community? Share with your Community –Now, tell your community about the problem you researched, and how your solution can help. You choose how to share what you’ve learned. Give a talk for parents. Create a website. Perform a skit. Make a comic book. Create a poster. –Your presentation to the judges can be simple or elaborate, serious or designed to make people laugh while they learn—but to be eligible for project awards at tournaments, it must: Describe your community, the problem, and your team’s solution Show that your team did the research and tell about your information sources Be shared with someone outside of your team

11. Season Time Line Sept: Registration closes when all slots are filled Sept 3: Challenge announced Sept 19: Rookie coach training session –Dallas Museum of Nature and Science January 23 -- Championship Tournament at: The Hockaday School 11600 Welch Road Dallas, Texas 75229 (Google says 33 mins.)

12. A general plan from now to January 23 Week One (9/29) Introductions. Team building exercises. Introduce challenge. Set short and long-term goals. Explore materials and build the course Provide how-to-build instructions and books. Week Two (10/5) Get to know the members of your team. Understand the challenge and the rules. Utilize available building and engineering lessons Discuss a research plan for the presentation. Introduce the programming language your team will use. Brainstorm a possible strategy for the missions. Build as many robots as you can with your available parts. Week Three (10/12) Try to get a working robot. Connect robots to programs. Begin research for the presentation. Experiment with many ideas. Week Four (10/19) Revisit mission goals and priorities. Modify robot design. Outline research project. Week Five (10/26) Try to get one simple successful program. Develop presentation. Week Six (11/2) Final robot design. Use small groups to get work done, perhaps outside of regular practice times Share presentation with team. Week Seven (11/9) Panic! Have faith; your team will amaze you. Perform timed practice missions. Modify robot and mission sequence. Start to talk about tournament. Week Eight (11/16) Practice for the tournament. Learn to solve problems and deal with mistakes. Use a stopwatch, this is dress rehearsal. Practice, practice, practice. “There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”– Henry Kissenger

13. Recruiting a Team Team size: 3-10 kids –School team Typically an extra curricular team that meets after school Possibly part of an enrichment program part of a classroom curriculum –Club team Boys and Girls Club Girls Inc. –Neighborhood team Group of friends Homeschooled team

14. Cost Estimates & Resources FLL costs – Approximately $1000 Rookie Teams, $600 Veteran Teams –$200 registration –$395 kit costs –$65 challenge kit –$50 qualifying tournament registration –$75 table parts & construction –$75 team T-shirts –$150 miscellaneous other costs including: extra parts, research presentation supplies, batteries, event give-aways Required resources –Laptop w/internet access –Meeting location –Table or surface to practice on Coaches/Mentors –Head coach –Mentors –FRC mentors (many former FLL participants)

15. Meeting Schedule Team meetings (after school) –Current plan is to use the following schedule with the requirement that team members attend at least two (2) meetings per week: Monday – Mission Planning Tuesday – Hardware design and assembly Wednesday – off Thursday – Software design and testing Friday – Team integration and status –Each team member reports out on accomplishments of the week –Each team member updates the schedule and plans out activities for the upcoming week.

16. Organizational Strategy

17. Coach/Parent/Mentor Commitment Coaches, Mentors, & Parents –To decrease the effort for one coach, additional mentors and parents need to be recruited to divide the responsibilities Responsibilities can be technical –Programming expertise –Science/engineering professional »An expert in this year’s Challenge theme, presents real examples of science in practice, advises the team on the project research and potential solutions, recommends new sources of information for the team. –Graphic artist – Provides advice on the team logo and T-shirts or non-technical –help coordinate T-Shirt design and ordering –team spirit activities –coordinate the team’s travel arrangements –Coordinate the materials and resources the team needs throughout the season by finding how-to guides and expert resources on the FLL Challenge topic –leading brainstorming practice and teambuilding activities. –Photo and scrapbooking activities –Video history of team (use for next year’s recruiting)

18. A mentor can teach life lessons Such as: –Communication –Compromise –Team work –Project management –… and the difference between a CAM and a rotor

19. What roles will kids fill on the team? Research -- Gather information about the Challenge theme, related real world problems and existing solutions. Invite professionals to share their knowledge with the team. Community Sharing – Consider who in the community might be impacted by or interested in your team’s problem and arrange to share your findings with them. Presenting – Prepare the Project presentation. Design a creative way to show the judges your team’s work on the Project. Building – Make decisions about building and work to form consensus on the mechanical design among team members. Programming – Make decisions about programming and form consensus on programming. Strategy Analysis – Analyze the robot playing field and formulate various methods for accomplishing the missions. Lead the effort to establish a consensus on the final strategic plan and think about risks and rewards of different strategies. Robot Operators (2) – Operate the robot at a tournament. Two robot operators are permitted at the playing field at any given time (see Tournament section for details). (Good hand/eye coordination required.) Project Management – Get everyone focused, get everyone’s ideas heard, find compromises, and keep everyone on schedule with a project timeline.

20. What roles will kids fill on the team? Quality Control – Conduct independent tests of the robot’s performance to identify potential opportunities for improvement. Test for functions that do not work reliably and make recommendations for improvements. Marketing – Design and create the team logo. Write a press release and contact the local media, surrounding schools, or civic organizations to increase public awareness of the team and how the team benefits from the FLL experience. Communicate a weekly update on the team’s progress to parents, sponsors, and organizations. Documentation – Record and document the entire team’s thoughts, actions, failures, and successes throughout the FLL season in a journal, storyboard, video, or other form you can display at events. During the season, these efforts help the team organize information for decision making. At events and tournaments, these are an excellent way to showcase the team’s activities, teamwork, and spirit for judges and event attendees. Fundraising – (Not needed this year) Think of ways to raise money for the team. Recruit parents and other children in the thinking, planning, and doing processes. Team Spirit – Think of ways your team, families, and friends can show their spirit at the tournament. As part of your team’s identity, consider designing T-shirts, making pins, writing a cheer, and inventing ways to showcase your spirit.

21. An all day event with lots of noise and excitement The purpose of the event is to bring together teams from across the region to display their robot, research, and teamwork abilities, which they have been working during the FLL season Team displays 4 components throughout the day in front of referees or judges –Robot competition –Teamwork –Robot design & programming –Research project Event areas –Pit area - “home base” throughout the day –Judging rooms – team presents to 3 judge panels during the day –Competition area – team competes on the competition table in 3x 2 ½ minute rounds in front of an audience Event starts with an opening ceremony and concludes with an awards ceremony What to Expect at a Tournament

22. FLL Core Values The Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL programs. They are among the fundamental elements that distinguish the programs from others of their kind. By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork. Members of the FLL community are expected to display the Core Values through hard work, dedication, and respect for others in all they do. FLL 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.

23. Video Presentation

24. Where to get Information & Top 10 Questions

25. Official Sources Coaches’ Handbook –FIRST (can be down loaded from FLL website) http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/content.aspx?id=788 Chapter 1: Building an FLL Foundation Chapter 2: Building a Team Chapter 3: Building a Season Rubrics for 2009 SeasonChapter 1: Building an FLL FoundationChapter 2: Building a TeamChapter 3: Building a SeasonRubrics for 2009 Season Lots of info on what FLL is all about. Instruction CD –Building instructions for mission models –These are not suggestions!

26. Official Sources FLL Website (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/default.aspx) –Rules –Mission descriptions –Field Setup –Q&A(check weekly) –Research instructions and links –Forum (great source of information)

27. Non Official Sources FLL-Freak website (www.fll-freak.com)www.fll-freak.com –Coaches’ Primer (forerunner of the Coaches’ Handbook) –UFAQ (A must read) –NXT Video tutorials –Links

28. Non Official Sources High Tech Kids (www.hightechkids.org)www.hightechkids.org –Training materials From main page select INFORMATION…PROGRAMS … FLL Towards bottom is a link to their library. –RoboLab and RIS labs –“Building LEGO Robots for FLL v1.2” –Misc.

29. Non Official Sources Oregon FLL (www.ORTOP.org)www.ORTOP.org –Training materials –NXT video tutorials.

30. Top 10 Definitions –Match – Two teams competing head to head –Round – All teams competing in one match –Mission – A task you perform for points –Outing – A period of time your robot leaves the base.

31. Top 10 How does a match work? –Two tables side by side. –One shared mission (Arrow Agreement) –2+1/2 minutes to solve as much as you can –No timeouts

32. Top 10 Can we touch the robot? –When in base you can touch the robot as much as you want. –If the robot leaves the base, you may return the robot to base but for a penalty.

33. Top 10 What parts are we allowed to use? –Non electric Everything you compete with must be made of LEGO elements in original factory condition, except LEGO string and tubing, which you may cut to length. –Exception: You can reference a paper list to keep track of programs. There are no restrictions on the quantities or sources of non-electric LEGO elements, except that factory-made wind-up/pull-back “motors” are not allowed. Pneumatics are allowed. The electric elements used must be the LEGO MINDSTORMS type, and the total number of electric elements you may use in one match is limited as follows: –Electric NXT controller (1) motors (3) touch sensors (2) light sensors (2) lamp (1) rotation sensors (3 minus the number of NXT motors present) ultrasonic sensor (1)

34. Top 10 Can you get an NXT robot to drive straighter? –Sample robot drives fairly straight. –Other robots may not as feedback code is not optimized for them. –Watch Drive Straight? Tutorial at www.fll-freak.com

35. Top 10 Should I use the rechargeable or AAs on an NXT? –By all means use the battery pack if you have one. We’ve got two battery packs for each team. –You can keep it charged up and have a more even voltage at less cost.

36. Top 10 How can you improve accuracy? –Stay away from time delays. –Minimize the change in voltage. –Use odometry (the rotation sensor) –Use landmark navigation.

37. Top 10 Think outside the box. –The obvious solution is often not the best. –Do not impose rules on yourself.

38. Judging Process and Awards

39. FLL Judging Teams are judged by several panels of judges at the tournaments they attend Judging sessions make up a major portion of the tournament experience –Allows teams to be assessed fairly –Gives FLL participants the opportunity to present in front of adults –Allows FLL participants to meet people experienced in the challenge field as well as engineers and teachers Judges follow a consistent set of rubrics to evaluate teams –Rubrics are supplied to the teams in the coaches handbook

40. FLL Judging The judges are volunteers from industry, local schools, or individuals who have been an active volunteer in the FIRST organization The judges go through extensive training to ensure consistency in the judging process –The judges are trained to encourage all the students to answer questions The judges are aware that this may be a students first time participating at a FLL tournament and may be nervous

41. FLL Judging The FLL tournament is four part: –Competition Rounds (points) – 25% –Robot Design (Technical) Judging – 25% –Teamwork Judging – 25% –Project Judging – 25% The team will have 5 minutes for setup and take down, 5 minutes to present their work to the judging panels, and 5 minutes for Q&A with the judges Judging will occur in separate rooms or areas depending on the local tournament your team attends

42. FLL Judging Judges will speak to the level of the students. Everyone is here to see the students succeed. No one is here to make anyone feel bad about themselves or their achievements. The judges will encourage all students to participate. This will confirm that the entire team did the work (or was involved in some way with the work). This will also help to confirm that the adults didn’t do the work. Adults Intervention is a NO! This is the time when it is all about the kids. If the judges see adult intervention it will penalize the team and may result in the team not being eligible for any of the awards. To avoid this at all cost, stand aside and encourage the team by being a presence. It is their time to shine.

43. FLL Judging Robot Design Award Robot Design Award will be judged on how well a team can creatively design a robot to solve the challenge mechanically and most programmatically.

44. FLL Judging Type of Questions the Judge will be asking themselves: Was the design simple and structurally robust? Was the programming language easy to follow? Did the team go from point A to B to solve a problem or did they get lost in between? What design principles did the team use to solve the problems. Did they go about finding the solution to the challenge in a unique way. Did they go above and beyond when solving a challenge. Did they solve multiple challenges in one programming series Did they use higher level programming knowledge How many sensors did they use? Was the design/program efficient Were the attachments structurally stable How many attachments were there, does one attachment have multiple purposes? How well does the team know the program? How well does the team know the robots design capabilities? Was the design a team effort?

45. FLL Judging Typical questions a judge may ask: What is your favorite attachment and what part of the challenge does it solve? Will some one show me the program you used to solve that challenge and walk me through its logic? What were the steps you took to find the solution to that problem? Was there a big brainstorming session? Why did you choose to use a light sensor to solve that mission? I see that you made the choice to solve the mission (this way), how did you come up with that solution?

46. FLL Judging Project Award The project award is judged based on how well a team researched and reports an innovative solution. Additionally, how the team creatively presents their results and demonstrates that they had an in-depth understanding of the various scientific disciplines and issues involved with the challenges project.

47. FLL Judging Type of Questions the Judge will be asking themselves: Did the team have a clear solution to the problem? Was the team organized? Was the team persuasive? Did the presentation flow? Did the entire team participate? Did they have more than one research source? Is the artwork, customs, etc. that of the students? Are there any visual aids? Are the visual aids consistent with that being presented? Does the project have a purpose, data to support the solution, and a conclusion of the results? Did the team seem well rehearsed? Did the team work together? Did the team support each other? Did the team see the big picture of their research?

48. FLL Judging Typical questions a judge may ask: What resources did you use to research your problem and why did you choose these? Did you use any unusual methods to research your topic? If so what and why? What makes your solution different from what is being used to solve this problem now, and why do you think it is better? How did you arrive at your solution and why? After working on this project, what is the most important thing that your team learned? How did you decide on this presentation style that you used? What do you think was the most creative aspect of your presentation of project and why?

49. FLL Judging Teamwork Award The teamwork will go to a team that best demonstrates the following: –Confidence, energy, and enthusiasm –Group problem solving skills –Respect –Positive Attitudes –Demonstrates an interest for Science and Technology –Act like a team!

50. FLL Judging Typical questions a judge may ask: Tell me about the roles each of you had on the team and how this worked? What does Gracious Professionalism mean to you? Tell us what you have learned about FLL and how you think it will help you in the future?

51. FLL Judging How the Judges Evaluate the Teams: Using a the FIRST Judging Rubrics, the judges evaluate the students as Excellent, Great, Fair, or Needs Improvement. –Rubrics provide by FIRST are used for this process to ensure consistency among judging groups. –Rubrics are found in your FLL Team Handbook. After the judges see all the teams they meet with their judge peers to discuss their results. The judges will use the notes, rubrics, and comments they made during each teams interview and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, award winners are selected for each category.

52. Awards Robot Design Award (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd )‏ Robot Design Award will be judged on how well a team can creatively design a robot to solve the challenge mechanically and most programmatically. Project Award (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd )‏ The Project Award is judged based on how well a team researched, came up with an innovative solution, and creatively presented their results and demonstrated that they had an in-depth understanding of the various scientific discipline and issues involved with the Challenges project. There will be only one Robot Design Award and one Project Award. Performance Award (1 st, 2 nd,3 rd,4 th )‏ Point based award. Determined by how well the team performs on the competition field. Teamwork Award (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd )‏ The teamwork will go to a team that best demonstrates the following: Confidence, energy, and enthusiasum; Group problem solving skills; Respect; Positive Attitudes; Demonstrates an interest for Science and Technology; Act like a team! Champions Award (1 st ) Goes to the team that demonstrates the highest level of performance across all four categories.

53. Awards Awards: –Robot Design –Robot Performance –Project –Team Work –Champions Student Participation Pins are given out to all students at the Qualifying Events. Optional Awards: –Judges Award –Special Recognition Awards –Team Spirit Award