From Emmet County Extension
SIOUX?CITY?- The Estherville Meteors 4-H FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team had fun competing in the northwest Iowa regional tournament in Sioux City on Saturday, Dec. 3.
Maybe it's the matching T-shirts, mascots and research presentations that make the FLL unique. Or maybe it's the excitement that triggered one boy to "dream about the mission" and another to say "participating in this group is the best part of his week." Or maybe it's the competing 4-H'er-built robots
Article Photos
Connor Moffitt and Lee Christensen test out their robot programming as the Estherville Meteors team cheers them on.
Photo submitted
More than 240 Iowa teams participate in FLL, which unites youth around the globe in the world of robotics. More than 171,000 kids participate worldwide. The program engages kids, ages 9-14, in problem solving, teamwork and learning through competition. The exciting and energetic atmosphere of FLL quickly dispels stereotypes of the drab professors and bulky machinery sometimes associated with technology.
"The part that is exciting about the robotics challenges is that it is just an energizing, fun way to engage people with different interests," said Jay Staker, director of Iowa State University Extension Science, Engineering and Technology (E-SET). "There are many roles for kids to fit into a team and develop their skills based on what they're interested in and what their DNA wires them for."
For some teams, robotics challenges are simply a way to learn more about science, engineering and technology. For others, it is a way to earn recognition in the world of robotics. For all, it is a way to hone problem solving skills, critical thinking, observation, inquiry-based learning and researching skills.
Teams participate in FLL by registering for the yearly challenge, which includes a theme and set of missions. The Project Challenge (which is based on a real-world scientific topic), the Robot Game, the Technical Interview, Teamwork, and the FLL Core Values are all parts of the competition. Challenge details are released in September each year. Teams meet weekly to prepare their project and presentation and learn to program their robot for completing the challenges.
For the "Robotics Competition" part of the challenge, they worked on programming a Lego MINSTORM NXT Robot to complete as many of the specific tasks given to them on an 8-by-4-foot challenge field. They received a set of LEGOs specifically designed for the FLL challenges to use. Robots can be programmed to use light, sound, and touch sensors, along with other tools the team creates to complete the tasks.
For the Food Factor Robot Game, this year's mission was to show kids how many places all of the ingredients for their food come from, and how many steps each one has gone through before they eat it. Their robot's job was to put some common foods through just a few of the steps they go through in order for you to eat them, while either avoiding or dealing with contamination. Some of this year's tasks relating to this topic were: unloading groceries on the table, emptying germs down the sink, setting a kitchen timer, changing the temperature on a thermometer, and catching fish. Teams score points by the number of tasks they accomplish in their three 2 1/2-minute rounds of competition.
During the "Technical Interview" portion of the day, the team brought their robot and attachments and ran a few completed missions on the challenge board for the judges. The judges interviewed them on their design of the robot and asked questions about the programming of the robot. The important element was to share how they overcame difficulties and shared their creative solutions to accomplishing the missions in their building and programming of the robot.
They also had "Project Presentation", which included identifying a community project that would be useful in their town and planning a presentation that they will share with Community Leaders based on a creative approach to a solution on the year's theme. The "Food Factor" project challenge this season was to investigate their food and find one way to improve its safe delivery to people.
The Estherville Meteors chose to research keeping eggs safer for consumers, because eggs are an important product for Estherville. They decided to propose putting a protective coating on the eggs to help prevent bacteria and contaminants from entering the eggs. They developed a power point presentation and poster to go along with their presentation. Past Challenges have been based on topics such as nanotechnology, climate, quality of life for the handicapped population, and transportation.
By designing Challenges around such topics, participants are exposed to potential career paths within a chosen Challenge topic, in addition to solidifying the STEM principles that naturally come from participating in a robotics program. Team members also learn valuable life and employment skills which will benefit them no matter which career path they choose.
During the "Teamwork Interview" portion, they were required to complete a task as a team which was revealed to them at the beginning of the interview. The judges observed how well the team worked together and interviewed them following the completion of the task as to how the members had worked together during the season as a team.
As they approached the competition, it was critical that the team used the FIRST Lego League Core Values---- especially, "What we discover is more important than what we win" and "We are a Team."
The judges will look for how well the team applied the First Lego League Core Values in their preparation for the competition so it is very important for them to be able to share them and talk about how they applied them to their team. The team also concentrated on the demonstration of 4-H values including teamwork, cooperation, generosity, responsibility, learning, working within space, time and materials constraints, and showing respect for others.
The students began their day in the "pit area," where they waited to compete. The phases of competition began at 9 a.m. Teams had three runs with their robots at the playing field, presented their innovative idea to a panel of judges and participated in three interviews. Each team had a different schedule. The day ended at 4 p.m. with an awards ceremony and lots of cheering and excitement.
"The sort of bigger picture is that robots are fun and exciting, so it's a positive way with positive experiences to expose lots of kids to science and technology and hopefully get them to think about the possibility of careers," says Iowa State University Extension program specialist Holly Bignall.
"Kids are used to seeing the winning steer, the winning rabbit or the restored rocker or tractor, but this is a whole different interaction, and it's exciting," says David Seilstad, another 4-H youth development field specialist . "They are learning life skills, teamwork, communication, citizenship and leadership, which are all tied in to what we have to do to compete in FLL, just like 4-H. The outcome is the same because the kids get to shine in ways they didn't before."
For more information about FLL, visit www.isek.iastate.edu.
For more information about how to get a child you know involved in the program through 4-H in this community, contact the Emmet County Extension Office, 362-3434.
Teams are limited to 10 members and two alternates. Emmet County is lucky to have more kids interested in the group than it has leaders for. If you or someone you know would be interested in helping lead a 4-H FIRST LEGO league team, please contact the Emmet County Extension Office, 362-3434. In any case, says Bignall, "If you're interested in robots or programming, if you just want to work with a team or if you want to help in the community, you can find a niche." And you just might help create a future scientist!"