S.T.E.M. at work in FLL- going the distance

The ability to give math terms a real life applications is one of my favorite parts of FLL programming.

Here's how to convert the distance you need to travel into rotations-

Step 1:    How to find circumference: If you know the radius- go to 1

If you know the Diameter- go to 2.

1 Work space

If you only have the radius : (remember to use metric (cm) when measuring): C-=2 r
C is the circumfernce (and the answer you will find) 2 = you must find the number of Pi times radius or r because r means Half the circle's circumference = 3.14 (an easy trick to remember pi (pronounced {pie} ) The number can be spelled backwords to be read as it's name :) r= radius (the distance from the center to the edge of the circle)

2. Work space

If you know the diameter of your circle: (remember to use metric (cm) when measuring): C= d
C= Circumference (you will find this answer by working the equation) d= the distance across the circle through the center = 3.14 (an easy trick to remember pi (pronounced {pie} )

Tip- the wheel diameter is written on each lego wheel in mm. Convert that to cm (multiple by 10) and you've got your diameter to the hundredth of a point! It's in fine print black on black, so you'll need good light and good eyes to see it, but it's there :) I promise you.

STEP 2- Measure the distance you need to travel in cm- (this equation only works for straight lines right now.)

STEP 3-  # of rotations=               distance

                                          circumference of the wheel

Tip= Both measurements need to be in the same unit in order to work. You can't divide inches into cm and get the proper number of rotations needed. 

   You can enter the number of rotation into the "move" block and then convert to degrees by hitting "degrees" after you entered the number from the equation.  That way, if you need to add or subtract just a little to the distance you wish to travel, you will have an easier number to shave something off than the larger rotations unit.  

Tip= Large wheels have the largest percentage of error when programming moving and turning. Smaller wheel are more precise, but move slower- so everything a trade off.

Calculating turns- two ways

Quick way- Use the "View" (the third button to the right on the first screen of the lego brick) on your brick. Click the "motor degrees", and then choose which motor you wish to view- A,B, or C.  You can only view one motor at a time, but if you're using it to measure going straight you can choose your left or right motor to view. 

       I find this particular option very useful when calculating right turns. Hold one wheel still while carefully and slowly pushing the "turning" wheel forward. The degrees the motor senses will show up on you screen and give you a really good idea of about how many degrees your root will need to move to make your robot turn right.  Take three readings and find the average or guess a number in the range you saw the robot measure.  Three trys at this often produce three different degrees, so be sure to do it multiple times.

The math way-

    Circumference (of the robot*) X angle of turn/360= distance needed to travel

Calculate the circumference of the robot by measuring the distance in between the two wheels (from the center of each wheel). This is the radius of the robot's full circle, so your robot's C=3.14r2 .  Take this number and multiple by the degree you wish to turn- 90, 180, etc. 90/360 =1/4  180/360=1/2. \

figure out the turn you wish the robot to move:

A right turn is 90 degrees, An about face (getting the robot to turn completely backwards) 180 degrees, and a ¾ turn is 270 degrees and a complete circle is 360 degrees

 

So moving our robot a right angle would be like turning it 90 on the circle, or 1/4 of the circle so our equations would be

C (of robot) x 1/4 =  distance to be traveled (cm)

Now that we know how far our robot must travel, we can plug back into the equation above- R#=D/C

and get the rotation necessary to turn a right angle.

Cheat sheet of equations in order

Circumference	C=2 r C=D
Distance a wheel must travel to turn	C (of circle traced) x Turn= D C x DegreeTurn/360= D
Converting distance to rotation (for a straight line)	# of rotations=   D                                 C
(Optional) Percentage of error	(theoretical C measure - Actual C measure) Theoretical C Measure (t-a/t) X 100= % of error

Doing the drama- the research section of the FLL tournament

This is how I created the presentation with kids last year (and many years & skits before that.)  You can use this as  rough outline of what to expect and how to help the kids create a dynamic presentation, keeping them in charge of major decisions, but meeting deadlines and staying on task!

  I just want to share what I've done in the past with kids encase it might be of help to you as the co-coach of FLL.  This is just one way to go about this task, and there are many other ways; Probably as many as there are FLL coaches :)

    It's important to keep the goal of the research in mind when helping the kids through this process- this is about kids feeling empowered to change and improve their world. It's about them identifying a problem and seeking out new and novel solutions to that problem.  Get the help of experts and present it c-l-e-a-r-l-y to the judges who must evaluate the problem and the possible solution among the 12-20 groups they see that day at tournament.   This part of FLL may not be as shiny or instantly as exciting as the robot game, but it has great value to them as budding scientists to learn to evaluate problems and create solutions.

Have fun,

Brandy

(Many of these decisions take place over several meetings.)

This is how my team did it last year- we all brainstormed ideas for a topic, & everyone came back with research and presented a 2-5 minute presentation on their findings.  We narrowed down the topic.  Brainstormed who the best experts would be to contact to ask questions.  Then brainstormed what questions we would ask them.  Had our secretary write down the questions.   Assigned two of the older kids to draft an email to send to the experts (This could have been done as a group letter writing skill, but we were only looking for 10-15 minutes bits as we covered all topics in each meeting). All kids went home and came back with the emails or contacts of at least one expert to send the letter to.   The letter writers came back with the draft, which was revised by the group and then were given the contacts of important experts to send the letter to.   My team sent the letter to 15 geneticists around the world (topic last year was Body Wars).  Six wrote us back; 3, we corresponded with several times in a back and forth question answer session.  At least two of the researchers told me they looked me up to see who I was and felt comfortable answering the my questions since I seemed like "a real person". So word to the wise, while the kids draft the letter, the coach's name should also be signed at the bottom.  During our gathering of expert evaluation of the kid's solution to their problem, the kids worked on their presentation. 

    I've worked with lots of youth group drama projects before, and when the kids are the ones writing the original play, we start like this:  Once the problem/plot is identified, each child comes to the table with his or her idea for the play- this is a ROUGH, general idea about the plot of the play- like a sentence that describes the play. (ex. "A woman's child has a disease, and she goes to the doctor's to see what options her child has to prevent an early death." Grim, but it was body wars. or "A new coach has a foreign soccer team and no one speaks the same language. They need to invent a robot so they can all communicate.") Once all the ideas are listed, we brainstormed and voted on the play's plot. ( I have a three tier voting system-the first time you can vote on any play plot that you like.  Then we take the top three or four and everyone can only vote once. Then we get down to the last two ideas, and we vote a final time. )  The kids generally combine the last two ideas, proving once again that many minds are used to make one great idea- and it generally makes the kids feel better working on an idea when they feel they all have input. 

         Then we start a "director's scene log", which is like a series of movements through the play, but has no written dialogue.  Again, each child writes out their vision of the movement through the play. Everyone reads their director's log out, and after voting to try one or two of the plays, or combining their favorite parts of several logs, we add in any important props that must be touched, moved or handled and then make a master Director's log.  There is no pre-written dialogue, the kids get to free form the dialogue as they move through the play, feeling the skit out.   The kids will naturally say things, like, "oh that was really funny, say that next time too." (tip: get someone to write this down.) Or "no, you can't run around shouting here because then we can't hear the doctor speak."  As we got new information from our experts in, the kids added or subtracted dialogue.  This time, we ended up having to write a script since free forming it seemed to loose a lot of important information. The kids asked to write their scripts, but I have had teams that never wrote a final script and were great.  Each team wrote their lines together, and then we practiced saying the lines loud enough to be heard.   We practiced the play a lot.  Props should be gotten as early as possible, and wardrobe should be finalized with at least enough time to try the play out in full costume for 3 presentations.

           I highly encourage you to film the presentations, before and after final wardrobe.  I don't do a lot of directing since if you set it up well, they direct themselves.   Let them see themselves, & they will find all the areas you hoped they would improve upon.  Quiet ppl realize their issue, and 90% of the time will speak up if they get to see themselves on the big screen and can't be heard.  All the talking in the world will not get them to be loud enough to be heard three rows back, but one good "movie review" can do wonders.  Ask questions about areas you see need improvement, and get the parents of kids to watch a play rehearsal and get the kids to ask questions of the audience- Did you know what my job was?  Did you understand what was happening?  Did you understand where/when the play took place?  What was your favorite part? Could you hear me/us? etc.  Parents are really nice, but they will usually point out to the kids where they need to clarify.  Sometimes, because I'm so close to the action and I know what's happening, even I miss that part of their play that is incomprehensible to the new viewer and seemed to make  no sense what so ever.  Siblings can be harsher, though that isn't always terrible, but younger sibling don't always know what's happening in the play even when the parents do, so kinda limit how often little Susy gets to input on what part makes sense to her.  

  Of course, the whole process of this is to make the kids in control of their presentation, all for members to have input so they feel heard, and to produce the highest quality project that the group can reach.  I've had groups where some kids just weren't actors, weren't really interesting in acting and were, in fact, upset that they would be asked to be in the presentation.  Hopefully, your number of this particular kind of student is less than 1/4. You can not help this, but that doesn't mean they can't be on stage and certainly does not take them out of helping make the presentation.   My answer so far has been "the human prop".  While a human coat rack is an unusual feature for a hospital, it is funny in an odd way and allows all members a part in the play that meets their skills.  Also any signage that must be walked across the stage is an excellent job for the quiet- doesn't-like-to-speak-to- new- ppl team member;  Even if all they do is present a  sign that introduces the play and then flips it to end the play.  In my team, everyone must be on stage, but not everyone talks.  

 

Good luck to your team,

Brandy

FLL coach's meeting notes-

I have the pleasure of sharing some of my experience with other FLL coach's tomorrow. Here's my outline and general overview of of the responsibilities as I see them for coach's and team members.

Three parts of the tournament- coach's and student's responsibilities

Tournament judging sections-

The coach, co-coach and a historian can come into any judging room. They ask that random parents not come in just for fun. I designate a different parent for each judging section so parents who want can come and watch and have a job :) 

Research judging- 

Coaches-

                 help take the students through the steps-

                      idea generating, helping set up meetings with or send emails to specialists,

                       and building in time during meetings.

                practice for the skit to be created and rehearsed at meetings.

Students-

                 to research for ideas, be open to team suggestions

                 to generate the skit and solution,

                 to work earnestly on creating and rehearsing the skit

                 to come up with the costumes and props

Parents-

                 to allow time for research & skit rehearsal and to help make or gather costume pieces.

                 Make sure team member can attend as many meetings as possible.

Teamwork judging-

Practice at least once each meeting. Allow kids to decide who is the rule keeper, idea solicitor, and time keeper before going into the judging area. Have the kids practice introducing themselves to you as you start the ICs from about 3 weeks out from the tournament.

Robot game- Two parts-

Table run-

        How we set it up-

                 We rotate, but if your team is larger than 6 to 8, you might want to designate a set of students

                  to go to the table.

Table tips-

                 Start the missions at the same place each and every time!

                 Moving it around is difficult to constantly recreate.

                Create lego rulers for yourself to mark off where to start the mission off if you must move it.

                 Have all your programs on the NXT in the order you want to run them.

                Consider using a single program, where all the programs are bundled in one program,

                           and using a touch sensor to start each new mission.

                 Use the guide lines on the start pad to help you find your mark. 

                                           DON'T start in the middle of the block.  The robot will mess it's mission.

                 Can bring your own table stand to set your pieces up.

Design judging-

The judges want to know that YOU, the coach or parents, didn't actually make the programs. The design judging section is so your kids can show case their ideas and skills. The judges will ask them about process, ask to see a program, and see a sample of the code. Don't necessarily do your fanciest one. If you have a program that works 100%, show that one.

FLL members' responsibilities-

                Deciding before the tournament which program they wish to show the judges.

                Dividing up who will speak about what areas.

                Deciding who will run the mission in front of the judges.

Coach's responsibility-

                 Print out one or more of the code images for the tournament book.

                You can snip, or copy and paste the program lines to a word document for printing.

Tournament necessities-

The “ team book”. Not a scrap book, per-say. Judges don't even look at it really. More for the team and keeping track of their progress and success.

Must have 4 copies of the team form, one for each judging station and one to turn in at the beginning of the tournament. Use tabs so the kids can quickly turn to the pages and give the forms to the judges.

Coach's- 

                Take a team photo of the kids, include a 3x5 or 4x6 on the forms so the judges can see the kids as they make their final considerations. The research photo is of the kids in their full costumes, but the other three are of the kids in their team shirts or color. 

                Bring snacks and drinks for your team (or assign this task).

                Organize someone to get a table covering at the very least. 

                Many teams deck their tables out, and give out small tokens that talk about their research. 

                Designate a camera person / historian for the robot game runs. 

Team members-

                 Create a backboard that talks about your research. 

                          These often resemble science fair backboards with the problem 

                           and solution stated on the board, as well as relevant facts.

                 Bring something to do at the tournament. 

                           The tournament is like being a goalie at  soccer match- 

                           1 hour of boredom punctuated by 10 minutes of intensity. 

                            I do like tournaments, but really active kids can find them 

                           stressful in the down times.  

                 Sleep well before the tournament!

                 Remember to have fun.

 

The importance of instant challenges and team challenges

This came up on thread last year and is the opinion of some coaches that you can't practice or plan for the team challenge judging.

(One coach to another) > "Don’t worry about it – they can’t plan for it or practice for it. "

(my response-) I respectfully disagree.  The core value area, aka team building, is one where the kids gain insight into how they can best communicate with each other and work together with the upmost respect.  I do think kids (and some adults) have a lot to be taught, or practiced is probably the better word, in this area.   You can practice this event by giving them any simple to complex task that they attempt to solve in 5 minutes.
Here's a page that can give you some ideas-
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2z83j/ic/id1.html
You have to download the challenges, but they are virus free and chuck full of great challenges to try with your team.
http://rosevilledi.bwweb.org/DataFiles/Docs0708/IC_Practice_Set.pdf 
Here's a pdf file that has some more challenges.
The most important part to remember is that the challenge itself doens't matter, it's how they worked together.  Debrief your team after each exercise-

DEBRIEF

Always be sure to debrief at the end of each instant challenge or set. Keep your questions friendly and positively focused, not judgmental. Allow each TEAM to answer the questions and draw it's own conclusions.

1. How do you think you did as a team? What did you learn about teamwork by doing this challenge?

2. How well did you manage your time? How might you have used it it differently?

3. What were some of the strengths of your solution? What worked well?

4. If you were asked to solve this problem again, how would it change?

5. Did your everyone on the team feel heard? What can we do to make sure everyone gives, or has a chance to offer, an idea?

6. How well do you feel you used the materials given? Is there any thing you wished you had more of?

7. Did your team follow the rules? (If not, what can help you follow the rules next time?)

8. If the solution didn't work, what could you do differently as a team to make it work?

9. Could your solution have been more creative, novel or unique?

10. Finally, and most importantly: What did you learn?!

(Optional: when you're checking on the group roles {defined below}-

Did the time keeper ask at least once, “how much time is left?”

Rule keeper/s, did you check your solution against the rules towards the end?

Idea solicitor, were you able to get an idea from each team member? (there shouldn't be blaming (stop the conversation if it starts), but they can explain if not everyone gave an idea.)

A good way to make sure the teams understand and grow their these challenges is to make sure the three basic roles in the group are determined before the challenge begins. Give your team a super quick, 20 secs to determine who has these roles. (It is ok to have more than one child doing each of tasks for a given challenge). -

The “rule keeper”- This person has the job of reminding the group of the rules. They will try to make sure he knows the rules to check at the end of the challenge.

The “time keeper”- this person has the job of making sure the team knows how much time there is left. This person may ask the judges at any time how much time is left. In the beginning of learning this job, team members should be told to ask twice during the challenge, “How much time is left?”

The “idea solicitor” - This person has the job of making sure each team member suggests a solution to the challenge and that every offers input.

Everyone's job- the “thanker”- it is every team members job during each challenge to thank at least one person for their contribution.

If the kids ask you can questions say, “Did the rules say you couldn't do that? If the rules don't say you can't, then you can!”

We practice productive communication- no blaming or focusing on the negative. Everything is phrased as a positive as much as possible.  You only have to have to do afew of these before your team starts to get a little better at talking to each other and making sure everyone feels involved.  My kids practice different jobs- one person is the time keeper of the activity, one person is the rule keeper- (what was the task at hand?), one person is the idea elicitor- they need to make sure everyone spoke up about their idea, or ask, "does any one have any other ideas?" Before the group proceeds to the creation of the task, and each person is responsible for sharing or thanking another team member for putting their idea out there. After a while, it becomes habit and they will do it in the instant challenges without being reminded as well as in the regular meeting times. :)
  They also learn to talk to each other in a way that helps get more responses from each other.  My team regularly says, "That's one good idea. Are there any others?" or, "Can we consider x, y, z idea?" as a way to introduce ideas without putting your teammate's idea down.  I saw how my new members this year came to these practice challenges and my old team members who had practiced these skills were clearly more diplomatic, helped the entire group work together better and generated more success at the tasks compared than the newer members. So I do think there is something to be said for practicing core values. Not to mention, this is a life skill that can really help people throughout their lives.
  We try to have one drama and one building challenge, or we alternate between them. Here are some challenges we worked on recently in our camp. -

Building- “spaghetti tower challenge”

tools- Each team gets 25 pieces of spaghetti, a marshmallow and 5 pieces of tape, or address labels to build their tower. Scissors are available but are not allowed to used in the structure.

Rules:

The tower should be self standing and have the marshmallow on top. Scissors are available for use, but are not allowed to used in the structure. Those are the rules :)

Time: Each team will have 8 minutes to build a tower.

Goal: The tallest tower, that follows the rules, is the victor.

(Debriefing notes: Teams new to instant challenges may not complete this challenge. Assure them that's ok, and they have more challenges to come. Emphasize what could have been differently to produce a positive change. )

Drama- News reporter challenge

Pre- Set-up- Create a lego structure for each team to be viewed by the “reporter”. Make each one unique and in a place where the rest of team can't see it. Number it so the reporter knows which one is his/her.

Rules:

A reporter was out in the field and sees an alien ship land. S/He sees the alien come out of the spaceship and rushes back to tell her/his fellow reporters at the station- BUT s/he is so dumbstruck by the experience that s/he has forgotten how to TALK!

Your task is to create a new, non-known language (so no English, Spanish or Russian if you know it! :). The language can have sounds and can certainly be non-verbal as well. Look at your bag of alien parts and try to come up with a language you can use to put together the alien the reporter saw. You have 8 minutes to create your language and then 3 minutes to build it. (Run the exercise for 3 minutes or until all teams have put together their alien.)

Time: 8 minutes to create language, 3 minutes to build.

Goal: Be the first to report on an alien species by building a LEGO alien before the other reporters.

Drama: “Bi-centennial statues”

tools: your team's imagination

Rules: The mayor has called your team to create a statue for the city's bi-centiennal celebration. The statue you create will placed in the city park for all to see.

- Use your team members to “make” a statue. At least one person must be the presenter of the statue and explain why it represents the town's founding. You must name your city and give a story that tells about its beginnings. Explain why your statue should be chosen to represent the town.

Time: You will have 8 minutes to create the “statue” and 3 minutes to talk about it.

Goal: Create the most imaginative statue for the town's 200th birthday.

(In this challenge you will find some teams who do not complete all the rules- naming the town or explaining why it represents the origin story of the town. The first question you ask to the groups after both have finished is- “Did each team name the town? Did each team tell me a founding story of the town? Did each team explain the statue? No need to comment, the kids will know if they did this or not. Ask the role keepers their role question. )

Building: “Bowling”

Tools: spoon, rubber band, straw, note cards, tape, other stuff :)

Rules:

Your goal is to knock down as many of the “pins” (aka t.p rolls) with the large Lego ball as possible. You may use the spoon in the blowing, but you may not touch the spoon after you start bowling. You can practice this during the time you have. The team that knocks over the most pins wins. You have three trys to knock all the pins down.

Time: 5 minutes to build the bowling device. Three trys to bowl.

Goal- knock over pins with ball :)

(After both groups bowl three times, say I'm going to bowl now. Go over the rules quick- knock pins over with ball. that was the only rule. Then take the ball and and hand knock all the pins down. Ask the teams if the rules said they had to use the equipment? Ask if the rules said they had to start at the end of the table? Talk to them about assumptions. :)

Lego CAMP- what a great week!

So, we just finished our first Lego fundraising camp ever.  What FUN!  This week has been so great, I know we'll do this camp again next year!
Here are some of the highlights from this week-

Day 1 - Getting it to move, motor and squeak :)

    Ezra helps some of the campers understand what the robots are doing.

Abby concentrates on H's first program!  

The team showed up everyday to help the kids, just a few younger then themselves, learn to the essential skills to programming Lego Mindstorm NXT.

From day one, the campers were were able to make the robots move by themselves and programmed them to successfully move through a maze! 

Day 2 - Sound and motion- let's DANCE!

 J's gets his groove on :)

Using the sound sensor to program the robot to dance to the beat of clapping, the students were introduced to the ideas of wait buttons. The motor and touch sensors were used for the afternoon maze.

Day 3- Sumo wrestling- Are you ready to RUMBBBLLLEEEE?

 

The robots had augmentations that added to their success.

  The campers learned about "parallel programming" and distinguished between programming prowess and operator efficiency.   Because all the programming was the same, the campers experimented with different engineering ideas to see how the robots reacted and conquered each other on "The Dojo of Doom!" 

This was a favorite project of the campers. 

Day 4- Light sensors- Follow the "black tape" road.

The light sensor is a wonderfully simple sensor. It sends out a light and measures the reflected light shot back to test the threshold of the surface.  White sends back 100% of the light (theoretically :) while Black absorbs all the light and gets as close to 0 as possible.  By setting the light sensor to go left when it detects black and goes right when it sees "not black".  The light sensor can't really "see" color, but can detect how much light it senses, and the programmers used "switch blocks" to help the robot switch between actions.  

Day 5- The fun must end- but the programming never stops.....

  
S's gets a big smile as his robot finished the "ultrasonic" maze. The ultra sonic used the same switch programming that allowed the light sensor to follow the line.

     

Not all programs went smoothly, but with a little perseverance-every programmer succeeded! Then it was off to free build and outfit the sumo wrestlers for the parents show.












  The morning and the afternoon camps did to interact for a while- half hour instant challenges were a favorite of many of the parents, who got to stay and watch the kids work out unique building and drama challenges.

"Camp 2" works on building the longest bridge competition. 

All the campers improved their communication skills and agreed the last challenge, a mere 5 days later, was much more fun because of the increased skills they gained and their ability top work together made the challenges more enjoyable. Each team chose a ruler keeper, idea solicitor, and a time keeper for each challenge. 

We had a great week! Thanks to our hard working team members and moms:) Here are 4 of the 6 hard workers below!

A final thanks to our parents for letting their kids come to our camp! Maybe we'll see you next year?