Welcome to Milwee’s FLL Club information meeting

1. Welcome to Milwee’s FLL Club information meeting Thank you for coming!

2. What is FLL? (FIRST LEGO League) • What is FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of . Science and Technology • Teams of 3 – 10 kids (probably 10 in our club) • Create a Robot and a Project + Presentation • Tournaments

3. Gracious Professionalism This is one of the basic tenets of FIRST. • GP Is: • Respect for the feelings, opinions, culture of others • Respect for equipment • Best behavior at all times • Good sportsmanship • Being friendly and polite at all times to all persons • Other forms of GP: • Fun physical pushing, shoving, or other physical displays • Tossing Lego to each other • Running when appropriate • GP Is Not • Laughing at others’ mistakes • Making negative comments about other teams’ robots, shirts, mascots or anything else.

4. What to expect: What they want: • 1 to 2 Coach and 3 to 10 kids = a team • 4 hours practice each week • Open Practice in October • 2 Weekend tournament between November 1 and mid January • Regional tournament in late January • State tournament in mid February What we can manage: • 10 kids + a coach = a team • 1 ½ hour’s practice each week • Some Saturday morning workdays • Open Practice in October (maybe) • 2 or 3 Weekend tournaments between November 1 and mid January • Let’s hope for Regional tournament in late January • Let’s hope for State tournament in February

5. What to expect - expenses • Team registration is $200. We hope to cover this via a grant, but if this proves impossible we may have to ask for $20 per student. • The school has robot kits  • Tournament Registration is $50. We hope to cover this, each student may possibly be asked to cover up to $10 per tournament. If you can’t manage that, don’t worry. • Presentation supplies – as for a normal school project, depending on what they do • Travel – parents will be asked to help with transport to and from tournaments, and with chaperoning.

6. If these expenses are impossible for you to cover: Please let Mrs. Pereira, Mrs. Thompson, or Mr. Bruen know – you can call us, write a note, or email us. We will do our best to find a way around this. One of our objectives is to introduce the world of technology to ALL students, no matter their circumstances

7. What to expect - meetings Meetings will be in Mrs. Pereira’s room 10-015 on Mondays from 4 – 5:30 pm. Snacks will be provided. Students will have to work extremely hard in these meetings. We are competing seriously here. Students must be picked up at 5:30 pm. You can arrange for your child to get a ride home from another family, but please list this family on your purple Milwee Security card which is held in the front office.

8. This is the timeline recommended at Coach Training You can see that we start almost half-way through this timeline

9. In the next three months, this is what Club members will have to achieve in their one hour per week meetings:

10. Design and Build a Robot: • Follow the Game Rules announced on September 2nd • Best score is 400 – only .01% of teams get this • No correct robot – creative solutions are best • Any LEGO Element that is not excluded by the rules can be used

11. The robot will have: • Several attachments that will be added/removed during the 2.5 minutes that it has to complete the Challenge • Programs that have to be written during practice, and tested and retested before the tournament

12. Think of and complete a Team Project • Teams explore an actual problem that today's scientists and engineers are trying to solve, develop an innovative solution to that problem, and share their findings. • Once you know how scientists, engineers, and doctors work together to find solutions, do some research. The theme this year is Food Safety!

13. Steps for the project • Find a Problem • Find a Solution • Prepare a presentation for others (be creative!) • Share your ideas with others • Create a 5 minute presentation for the judges about what you did (be creative!).

14. The Project We will set up a discussion board on Blackboard so that the team members can discuss ideas during the week. If you have Internet access at home, please allow your student to use this when necessary. This will help a lot with the project. Students will need to spend some of their free time working on the project, as we are very time constrained because we are a school team and start late.

15. The Game • This is a competitive sport • There are points for everything • 25% Research, Robot Game, Technical, Teamwork • The team with the highest robot score does not always win the Champions Award • Go to as many tournaments as you can • With at least 2 weeks in between • Teamwork and GP will shine more than a slick robot • Be prepared • Gracious Professionalism is worth 100%

16. We are lucky enough to have one team sponsored by Girl Scouts of the USA, and another sponsored by NAVAIR, so we already have Field Kits and Game Tables. This is what this year’s field looks like:

17. What does the robot have to do? This video from last year’s competition shows you what the robot has to accomplish in 2 ½ minutes:

18. Each student has to sign this:

19. A parent/guardian must sign this:

20. Do you still want to join the Club? Sign the sign-up sheet. We should have your details on the form you turned in on Friday. If you get into the team, you and your parents will also have to sign the contract we just showed you. We will hold you to these obligations. If you can’t live up to them, the club has a “ 3-strikes and you’re out “ rule, and you will no longer be allowed to attend the club or be part of the team.

21. We can only take about 25 students • Please turn in your application, but this does not mean you will definitely get into the club • Remember that you have to promise to be at tournaments unless you are ill or there is a family emergency • If you have to play sport every Saturday morning, you will have to miss the sport on practice and tournament days • You must come to the Monday meetings

22. Questions?