Lego League Newsletter - School District of Beloit

Welcome to cyBER 2014
FIRST Lego League newsletter
(community youth Beloit Engineering Robots)
(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
The FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL program. They are among
the fundamental elements that distinguish FLL from other programs of its 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.
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FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values:
We are a team.
We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together.
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® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
We have FUN!
cyBER Teams, throughout the summer continue brainstorming, research, ask people their thoughts
for 2014 problem: “WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF LEARNING”, see flyer on next page.
Included in this letter you will find information to help jump start 2014 league:
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Parent link to FINAL registration/roster for your son/daughter:
Parent Link to helpful resources about FLL:
Challenge revealed Aug. 26th, 2014:
World Champion FLL Team” Inventioneers” BLOG Review:
Off Season work: also see attached PDF
Off Season FUN learning FLL activities:
If you have any questions please contact:
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Tammy Spoerk: [email protected]
Parent link to FINAL registration/roster for your son/daughter:
There are many changes this year regarding the team registration system and a process, thus reading the
information below is very important.
The FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) program is moving to the same registration system used by FIRST’s other
programs (Jr.FLL/FTC/FRC) beginning May, 2014. The system is called Team Information Management
System (TIMS). This change will help all FLL Teams to more easily progress through the FIRST programs. TIMS
will also create a common platform where change management within FIRST is simplified and allows FIRST to
better serve all teams regardless of the program.
cyBER Beloit School District FLL Teams: Currently we have 14 students on roster for Aldrich and 9 students
for McNeel, Aldrich will be broken into two teams. FIRST 2014 rules states “Team Members: An FLL team
must have a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of ten (10) children. A team with more than ten (10)
children will not be eligible for awards at an official FLL tournament.
Children may be members of only one (1) FLL team per season.
No team member may exceed the maximum allowed age in your region prior to January 1 of the year the
Challenge is released.
For example, in the United States a student who turns 15 in May of 2014 would be eligible to compete in the
Challenge released in August of 2014, whereas a child who turned 15 in December 2013 would not.”
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McNeel: Team number 1928 Team name cyBER 3
o Please register your daughter/son at this link: https://my.usfirst.org/stims/
Aldrich: Team number 1927 Team name cyBER 2
o In fall we will establish a roster for each team, and then parents can register students.
o Do not register at this time
Aldrich: Team number 1905 Team name cyBER 1
o In fall we will establish a roster for each team, and then parents can register students.
o Do not register at this time
Parent Link to helpful resources about FLL:
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources: scroll down to fundraising ideas, if interested.
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/parents : information for parents
Challenge revealed on Aug. 26th, 2014: This is an exciting day for FLL participants
worldwide. Would we, three teams of parents/students from Aldrich, McNeel, and high school mentors like to
meet on this day to hear the challenge as a group? Would we meet at Beloit Memorial High School or would
anyone have another idea for location. Keep in mind we would need internet connection, speakers, overhead
projector and room for seating. Many teams gather on the day the Challenge is released for a team party to
celebrate the new Challenge. Download the materials together and start brainstorming. If our teams begin
meeting after the Challenge is released, don’t despair! Simply download the Challenge materials as soon as
you can. http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2014fllworldclass
World Champion FLL Team” Inventioneers” BLOG Review:
Review FLL Team” Inventioneers” BLOG, “October 22nd, 2013 our SMARTwheel Utility Patent was issued.”
That’s right FLL students designed the right solution and found funding for manufacturing, follow this link to
review their youtube on SHARK TANK http://theinventioneers.blogspot.com/2013/03/heres-our-shark-tanksegment.html then review their blog for more exciting thoughts http://theinventioneers.blogspot.com/
Off Season work: Table Construction, if each team could raise funding, approximately
$75.00, this does not include the purchase of two collapsible saw horses used for legs/supporting the table
and allowing breakdown easier for storage. Official table building instructions see attached PDF: We (cyBER
student mentors) built a practice field used for demo’s. If anyone would like to see this prior to building one
for your school team let me know.
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Looking for a lighweight, portable table option? FLL team, The Inventioneers, created the STOW-or-GO
Practice Table - See more at: http://theinventioneers.blogspot.com/2010/09/stow-or-go-home-practicetable-update.html http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources#sthash.AUALejUx.dpuf
Off Season FUN learning FLL activities:
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Follow the link at the end to review helpful resources on off-season activities Top Resources for Rookie
Teams at Your Fingertips! And “top ten tips”
http://theinventioneers.blogspot.com/2010/03/inventioneers-top-10-tips-for-off.html
Brainstorming activities: http://pbskids.org/designsquad
FLL Project How To Video - Official video on how to tackle the FLL Project. FLL Blog Posts about the
Project. By Official FLL Blog correspondent, Heidi Buck. Which comes FIRST, the Project or the Robot?
Engineering the Project Forward Thinking Field Trips How to Turn the Lightbulb On The Dragon Ate My
Project! Elevator Pitch Watch this 9 webisode series on the FLL Project. Created by Official FLL Blog
correspondent, Heidi Buck. - See more at(scroll down in link to find the following listed)
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources#sthash.AUALejUx.dpuf
Robot Game: scroll down in link to find “Robot Game”
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources
Building: scroll down in link to find the following listed below
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources
o ldraw.org - Open standard for LEGO CAD programs that allow the user to create virtual LEGO
models and scenes.
o brickplayer.com - Private, independent website featuring LEGO sculptures, mosaics, news,
reviews, and building tips & tricks.
o brickjournal.com - BrickJournal is a magazine that spotlights the many aspects of the LEGO
Community.
o brickshelf.com - Cool LEGO building stuff.
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o peeron.com - More cool LEGO stuff, including a list of parts numbers and names; color chart,
sets, building instructions
o classic-castle.com - For LEGO castle aficionados
o bricklink.com - Premium venue for individuals and businesses from all around the world to buy
and sell new, used and vintage LEGO
o brothers-brick.com - The Brothers Brick is a LEGO blog for adult fans of LEGO
o lugnet.com - International LEGO Users Group Network, a global community of LEGO
enthusiasts.
o The Art of LEGO Design by Fred Martin- A slightly outdated, but still very useful guide to
building with LEGO.
Programming: Beloit teams we are not using NXT we are using EV3: scroll down in link to find the
following listed below http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources
o NEW! Educational Robots for Absolute Beginners Designed for K-12 teachers, but free and open
to all who are interested, this self-paced online course teaches the fundamentals of LEGO NXTG robot programming and introduces LEGO NXT robots to teachers and prospective or
beginning FLL coaches. No prior background in programming or robotics is necessary.
Participants who complete a set of five robot programming projects can earn a certificate of
completion.
o EV3 Programming Tutorial
o Materials in Support of the Classroom
o GEAR-Tech-21- Includes six to nine activity modules introducing robot design, building and
programming for the LEGO NXT
o Carnegie Mellon- Comprehensive FIRST LEGO League robotics and engineering resources can be
found at the Robotics Academy site. The Robotics Academy also offers free online training and
access to free materials for students who are members of the Robotics Academy’s Computer
Science Student Network ( CS2N). The online trainings cover everything that teams need to
know to be successful at programming their FLL robots. The Robotics Academy also offers free
training for TETRIX robots.
o NASA Educational Robotics Matrix This is a list of robotics and engineering educational
materials, collected by NASA. Not all of the materials here apply to FIRST LEGO League.
o Tufts Center for Engineering Educational Outreach - Encyclopedia of LEGO part names and uses,
building and programming hints, and physics concepts. Also, about 40 classroom activities and
ideas using LEGO elements and ROBOLAB to help teach subjects, from science and engineering
to reading and art, are available for download. Another database of activities is below under
LEGO Invent & Investigate Database.
o Trifolioum Gears Lesson - A lesson plan about gear types and uses using LEGO gears to
illustrate. Introduction to gears lesson.
o How Stuff Works - Explanations of how things work. It is not a curricula, and not specific to
FIRST LEGO League, but has very good explanations of general engineering concepts. For
example, How Gears Work, How Gear Ratios Work, and How Differentials Work.
o - See more at:
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources#sthash.AUALejUx.AzGrLN5v.dpuf

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