Lego League Rolling Along

Here was the status note I sent after tonight’s Lego League meeting:

We made great progress this evening! We’re now in the thick of building out the terrain and the five instruments that make up our model. The launch pad and sounding rocket are finished, complete with a lever-equipped launch platform (simple machine number 1!) to send the sounding rocket flying. Our two weather vanes have also been attached to our 15″ x 15″ base. The arm to suspend our satellite is coming into shape nicely. Finally, we’ve made a good start on both the inclined plane glider launch pad (simple machine number 2!) and the glider that will measure our slice of ocean. Thanks to everyone who brought Legos to enhance our model.

Tonight was almost 100% building and it was clear that this is what the kids have been waiting for. Great ideas were flying almost as fast as little fingers, cobbling on Legos to the the terrain faster than you’d think possible. Imagine a champion race horse that had spent session after session listening to how he should run around the track instead of running around the track. Like a thoroughbred finally set free, the kids powered the Legos onto the model, churning out one good idea after another, working up a lather…ok, perhaps the metaphor is a bit over-done. They did seem to be energized and having fun.

It goes to show that the coaches have just as much to learn about how to make the meetings fun as the kids do about climate, teamwork and simple machines.

The First Jr. FLL Meeting

We met with all the kids and parents tonight in the first meeting of the two teams sponsored by Xerox at Byrom Elementary. Bob, Steve, Stephanie and I are coaches and we passed on the information tonight that we will have roughly 10 meetings to meet the Lego challenge of climate connections.

One good lesson I think we learned tonight is that it is really hard for a group of kids to talk and think about Legos for an hour and not actually get to play with Legos! But tonight we had a mission to convey the information about what we are going to be doing over the next three months. Our teams’ challenge is to build an instrument/robot that would be useful for a scientist to measure or study climate. The first step toward doing this is to research what a climate is and how scientists study it. The next step will be to come up with some great ideas on where that happens and what the kids can build that would help. Building the model and making a poster about the teams’ solutions come next.

We focused on information and team naming. The older group came up with the Rocky Robots! The younger team is Team Bobcat Fire! Go teams!

Next week: Putting hands to some Legos and brainstorming what to build.

Junior First Lego League and First Lego League

The kids both start their Lego League pursuit this month. Rachel has her first Lego League meeting tomorrow and Priam his first at the end of September. I’ll be a coach for Priam’s team and I have no doubt that he and his fellow teammates will cook up a variety of creative solutions to tackle this year’s Lego challenge: Climate Connections.

This year’s challenge:

Embark on an exploration of the earth’s climate in the Junior FIRST LEGO League’s 2008 Climate Connections Challenge! Discover the links between science, people, resources, and communities. Unearth how we learn about past climates and delve into questions surrounding our current and future climatic conditions. Join Junior FIRST LEGO League teams in creating a global game plan as they make these Climate Connections!

I’m eager to see what the climate change challenge is and how our youngsters can learn to think about tackling it. More to come…

Protected: Bluehost 10, Russell 1

Protected: Stellarium

Protected: Merry…err…Happy…uh…Greetings

Protected: Priam’s First Book

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