In this update you will find:- HYDRO DYNAMICS Important Links!
- FIRST LEGO League Team Financial Support Status
- LAST CHANCE - Coach, Mentor, Parent Workshops
- Free Table
- What Your Team Should Do in September
Oregon Update: 1
Welcome to the first official email of the season. All Oregon FIRST LEGO League Coaches are automatically added to this list weekly! In each update, which you can read in an email or on our blog (cross posted on both G+ and Facebook), you will find out what is happening in Oregon, the important things from Headquarters in NH, and tips to keep your team on track. This blog will be posted nearly weekly and all posts are archived.
All of the materials for HYDRO DYNAMICS were released on Tuesday! There is a lot of reading before your team builds a single block if your team wants to be successful. Here are links to find the most important items for your teams.
- The new FIRST LEGO League Oregon Hot Topics Page - This will be a very useful page for all teams about Oregon specific items this season.
- The FIRST LEGO League Challenge Information Page - on this page you will find the Challenge documents, game updates (UPDATE 1 is already released, with an project clarification AND awesome new game rule!!!), and other very important documents. Remember the order of authority for FIRST LEGO League is Official HYDRO DYNAMICS Update -> HYDRO DYNAMICS Challenge Guide -> Videos and Emails (not really going to help you with rules, but can be useful to see)
- The Official Kick off Videos! Project Kickoff, Robot Game Kickoff, and the Oregon FB LIVE recording of Kickoff, part 1, and part 2 - a great opportunity to hear Local Head Judge and Head Referee takes on the challenge and game.
- FIRST LEGO League Judging Rubrics - these are the criteria your team will be evaluated on at the Oregon tournaments.
- FIRST Core Values - What we expect to see from every team (and coach/adult/teen mentor) at every team meeting and local event! REMEMBER: The "We" in 'We do the work' refers only to the team members, Coaches, Mentors, Teen Mentors, and well meaning parents should not be making team decisions on the project or robot.
REMINDER: Oregon Competition Tables use full-sized 2x4 walls, not 2x3 as shown in the Field Setup Guide
2) FIRST LEGO League Team Financial Support Status
If you submitted a request for ORTOP Team Financial Support between August 1 and August 18, you should have received an email today regarding your Financial Support. On Tuesday the next batch of applications will go to our volunteer reviewers. Please get your application in NOW if you want to be considered. So far letters totaling nearly $40,000 in financial support have been sent to teams. Letters that are not signed and returned will be given to other teams in the next two rounds!
The LAST DAY to submit an application for Team Financial Support is September 11, 2017. After that point, it will be impossible to apply the funds before FIRST LEGO League Tournament Registration begins.
If you submitted a request for ORTOP Team Financial Support between August 1 and August 18, you should have received an email today regarding your Financial Support. On Tuesday the next batch of applications will go to our volunteer reviewers. Please get your application in NOW if you want to be considered. So far letters totaling nearly $40,000 in financial support have been sent to teams. Letters that are not signed and returned will be given to other teams in the next two rounds!
The LAST DAY to submit an application for Team Financial Support is September 11, 2017. After that point, it will be impossible to apply the funds before FIRST LEGO League Tournament Registration begins.
ORTOP Team Financial Support may pay for any of the following on behalf of your team:
- National Registration with FIRST
- HYDRO DYNAMICS Challenge Kit
- LEGO MINDSTORMS Robot Kit
- Oregon Qualifying Tournament Registration Fee
Do not plan on getting reimbursed. Most awards do not include the ability to be reimbursed for items already purchased.
Just for the curious: ORTOP Team Support Awards are a multi-step process. After your award is submitted it will be sent to at least 2 different volunteer reviewers who will provide feedback on each of your answers and make a recommendation regarding your team. Then ORTOP staff reads all the review comments, some of the application questions, especially regarding your team diversity plans and readiness to succeed (not based on winning awards, success is always about the ability of the team to learn and follow our Core Values). Then, teams that are selected for funding or partial funding will be matched with sponsors. After this letters are generated for teams to learn about their awards. This process can take nearly 2 weeks!
3) LAST CHANCE - Coach, Mentor, Parent Workshops
September is the final month for Oregon FIRST LEGO League Coach, Mentor, and Parent workshops. In addition to learning the basics of working with a FIRST LEGO League, it's a great opportunity to network with other coaches, mentors, and parents working with teams.
September is the final month for Oregon FIRST LEGO League Coach, Mentor, and Parent workshops. In addition to learning the basics of working with a FIRST LEGO League, it's a great opportunity to network with other coaches, mentors, and parents working with teams.
Can't make it to an in person workshop? We've been recording video this year at some of our workshops. Please watch our YouTube Channel for ALL 3 hours of Workshop 1. Coming next week!
4) Free Table
A free practice table with the shorter "international" walls is available in Tualatin. If a team who does not currently have access to a practice table would like to use this please email Brian at: (email version only)
A free practice table with the shorter "international" walls is available in Tualatin. If a team who does not currently have access to a practice table would like to use this please email Brian at: (email version only)
5) What Your Team Should Do in September
Welcome to the competition season!
- If your team has not already started meeting they should start before September 20th. Your team should have between 6-10 members by October 1. Remember no team may ever have more than 10 team members. If you need to register an additional team you can do so before registration closes, probably at the end of September.
- Both Coaches should be in the FIRST system, affiliated with the team and have their Consent Form signed and the background check complete. Remember you have to sign a new consent form each year (it takes less than 5 minutes!)
- Have a parent night, explain the meeting schedule and the importance of every child attending all meetings and the tournament. Get a commitment from each parent to help with the team in some way. On parent night, have computers available so all parents can complete the online student forms to so each team member can be added to your roster - directions from FIRST can be found here. Look for more details in next week's update.
- Introduce the FIRST Core Values. Looking for ideas? We will have an adult training in Beaverton with a special guest instructor - look for details on Tuesday! Core Values should be a part of EVERY team meeting.
- Build your Challenge Kit. Once it arrives the team should build the challenge kit. It will take 1person 6 hours to build, so 8 kids should be able to build it in one team meeting. The coaches should pay special attention to model 7 as it has gears that must be properly aligned. Don't have a challenge kit? Once you've paid your national registration they can be ordered through the FIRST Dashboard for $75, limit one per team.
- Decide on your team identity! Team names are needed when your team registers for their Qualifying Tournament in October. While teams can and do change their names after tournament registration all the paperwork will be printed with the name provided in October.
- Start researching the project! Water is a fascinating topic. Looking for ideas? Follow us on Facebook as new articles appear periodically about challenges in the human water cycle!
- If your team has never programmed before, provide an intro to programming with the tri-bot starter robot (the sample build in the book). Do not jump right into the table challenge! The table challenge can be started in October, still giving your team plenty of time to master a mission.
- If you can't find something or have questions please email Loridee at Loridee-Wetzel@ortop.org
Loridee
No comments:
Post a Comment