4-H Problem-Solving, Teamwork and Fun through LEGO Mindstorm Robotics And FIRST LEGO League Teams

Positive Youth Development =Meeting the Needs of Youth  Belonging  Mastery  Independence  Generosity

What are these 4 basic needs of Youth? Belonging— Finding that you have things in common with others and you are accepted and made to feel part of the group Mastery — Encouraged to try new experiences and find out what things you are good at

What are these 4 basic needs of Youth? Independence— Giving youth a choice in what they will do and a voice in where the group is headed Generosity— When youth belong, feel that they have skills they have accomplished and are given choices, youth will choose to share with others of their knowledge time and skills

So what is a LEGO MINDSTORM EV3 Robot?

What can this robot do with your Programming and Engineering Design?

Robots do 4 Basic Kinds of tasks Dirty Dull Dangerous Delicate Resource Page

Two Great Starts to understanding Robot Programming Robot Programming Fundamentals Video – ducts/nxt_video_trainer/partial_product/basics/thinkin g/thinking.html ducts/nxt_video_trainer/partial_product/basics/thinkin g/thinking.html Programming is Precise Just click on Big Idea 1-2 Programming is Precise – curriculum/preview/ curriculum/preview/

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

2015 Challenge Trash Trek Your Project mission this season is to make less trash or improve the way people handle the trash we make. In the TRASH TREK Project, your team will: Identify a problem with the way we make or handle trash Design an innovative solution to the problem you select Share your problem and solution with others FLL challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers.

How do teams get Started? 1. 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

How do we get started? 2. Jump into the Challenge Theme “Trash Trek” for To begin your TRASH TREK project, As a Team – Choose a piece of trash. It might be something gross and stinky, something old and worn out, or something left over after you finish a project. It could be an item that is used in manufacturing, building, or some other business. It could be any item that is considered “trash” by the owner. As a Team - Find out where your piece of trash goes after it leaves the owner….

How do we get started? Does someone collect this item from you, or do you need to take it somewhere? Could you follow the path your trash takes (either in person or through websites, books, and magazines)? What happens to the trash in the end? Do you notice any parts of the process that could be better – more efficient, cleaner, or better in some other way? Look for these problems as you research.

How do we get started? This would be a great time to invite someone in to talk to your team…an expert who handles your item or someone who works with recycling or reusing items that others throw away. You might select a problem in any of these areas – How trash is collected ● Could there be a new uses for old items (repurposing) ● Food waste ● Electronics waste (phones, computers, etc.) ● Hazardous waste (medical, chemical, etc.) ● How trash impacts your community ● Landfills ● Making zero-waste products ● Recycling process ● Sorting the trash

How do we get started? 3. Start learning about building the robot and programming it a) 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 a) Build the standard Driving Base in Manual with kit b) Begin the EV3 Tutorial in the programming software or online to learn how to use the software to program the robot