FIRST Lego League Junior

October 3, 2016 admin

Would you like your child to participate in a global STEM program and solve a real world problem and have fun at the same time? Would you like your child to participate in an international exhibition of ideas and innovation? Would you like your child to learn robotics and join hundreds of thousands of students globally to go on an Aqua Adventure? Then you must check out FIRST® LEGO® League Junior (FLL).

What is FIRST®?

  • FIRST® stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”.
  • FIRST® Robotics is an internationally acclaimed robotics program that inspires a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths in young people.
  • Founded in the USA in 1989, FIRST® Australia was established at Macquarie University in 2006. Since then, FIRST® Australia has partnered with schools and universities across Australia with teams and competitions held in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.
  • Australian teams have enjoyed remarkable success attending the FIRST® World Championship Tournament each year from 2006 to 2014.
  • Worldwide there are 32,600 teams made up of 350,000+ students from nearly 80 countries. 64,000+ Mentors and 66,000+ event Volunteers and Affiliate Partners donate their time to make FIRST® possible.
  • Read more here.

What is FIRST® LEGO® League Junior?

Focused on building an interest in science and engineering in children ages 6-10, FIRST® LEGO® League Junior (FLL) is a hands-on program designed to capture young children’s curiosity and direct it toward discovering how science and technology impact the world around them. This program features a real-world challenge, to be explored through research, critical thinking and imagination.

 

Each yearly challenge is based on a different theme and has two main parts, the LEGO® Model, and the Show Me Poster. Teams consist of two to six children and are guided by adult coaches. During the season they will:

  • Conduct research about the current Challenge theme.
  • Build a LEGO® Model based on the Challenge instructions that contains both a simple machine and a motorized part.
  • Display their findings on a Show Me poster.

Throughout their experience, teams will operate under the FIRST LEGO League Jr. Core Values, celebrating discovery, teamwork, and Gracious Professionalism®.

What are FLL Core Values?

  1. We are a team.
  2. We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
  3. We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together.
  4. We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
  5. What we discover is more important than what we win.
  6. We share our experiences with others.
  7. We display Gracious Professionalism® and Cooperation® in everything we do.
  8. We have FUN!

 

 

2017-18 Challenge: Aqua Adventure!

Explore how you use water at home or in your community, the water’s journey, and how to improve a part of this journey. Create and Test a Team Model to show your ideas. Share what you learn through your Team Model and a Show Me poster.

 

FIRST® LEGO® League Junior (FLL)

 

FLL Junior 2016-17 Season Highlights

In FLL Junior 206-17 season, we mentored 12 teams, about 50 students from three different schools with students as young as 6 years old. We participated in the Macquarie Uni Expo in December 2016 with students from Girraween Public School and then in August 2017 with students from Girraween Public School, Greystanes Public School, and Darcy Road Public School. We organised an inter-school exhibition at Greystanes Public School before going to the Macquarie University Expo. Students and teachers from Girraween Public School traveled to Greystanes Public School for the inter-school exhibition. At the inter-school exhibition, we had organised for a Bee-Keeper who had been keeping bees for about 50 years to come and talk to the kids. He was kind enough to also bring in some equipment for kids to check out. Highlights below.

 

Program Outline

  • The program is open to students in Year 2 and above and there are only 12 spots available at each school.
  • Embracing the FLL core values, students will be guided throughout the program on their project including researching the topic, learning robotics and coding, developing the Show Me Poster as well as preparing them to attend the school event and the Expo.
  • Teams will participate at the Expo on Saturday 2nd December at Macquarie University.
  • Parents will be required to drive and accompany their child to the Expo. Parents must sign Macquarie University risk acceptance consent forms to participate in the Expo.
  • Students may be required to do additional work (e.g. research, prepare/edit poster, etc.) outside the workshop times.
  • All students will receive a participation certificate from FIRST Australia and opportunity for additional recognition at the Expo.
  • Parents may be invited to support and assist with the program. Parents will receive a weekly update on what we did in the workshops including pictures and videos.
  • Enrollment is subject to the acceptance of our terms & conditions and risk acceptance that includes no refund for missed classes.

Program Schedule / Dates

Parramatta East / Oatlands Public School Program (Open to all schools)

  • The program will commence from 16th Oct till  4th Dec once a week every Monday from 3.30 PM till 5 PM in Block F / Class 6C in Parramatta East Public School.
  • The same program will also be offered on Saturday from 12.30 PM till 2 PM from 21st Oct till 9th Dec in Parramatta East Public School. Students from other schools are encouraged to enrol in the Saturday program.

Greystanes Public School Program

  • The program will commence from 16th Oct till  4th Dec once a week every Monday from 3.15 PM till 4.45 PM in class 6J / 6N; next to school library.

Metella Road Public School Program

  • The program will commence from 17th Oct till  5th Dec once a week every Tuesday from 3.15 PM till 4.45 PM in class 6C.

Girraween Public School Program 

  • The program will commence from 18th Oct till  6th Dec once a week every Wednesday from 3.15 PM-4.45 PM in Technology Room; next to Staff Room.

Darcy Road / Toongabbie / All other schools

  • Please consider joining the program at one of the other schools.

Registration Cost – $220 incl. GST

Includes:

  • Registration cost to the Macquarie Uni Expo
  • LEGO® robotic resources, software, tablet PC
  • Theme specific LEGO kit
  • Workshops

 

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FAQ

FIRST® LEGO® League Junior – All Schools

  1. There are two programs available for my child – what is the difference and which one shall we join?
    • FLL Jr. program is targetted to primary school students aged 6-10 years old and is based on solving a real world problem to be explored through research and team work. No prior robotics or coding experience is required.
    • Introduction to LEGO® MIndstorms® EV3 programs are recommended for ages 8+ and is the pathway to participate in the robotics competitions. Competitions such as FIRST® LEGO® League and Robocup is based on LEGO® MIndstorms® EV3 or similar robotics kit and requires working knowledge of the robotics kit.
    • We recommend FLL Jr. for all students under the age of 8 where they have had no prior coding or robotics experience. It’s a great way to introduce them to the FIRST® LEGO® League programs. Anyone over 8 should consider joining the LEGO® MIndstorms® EV3 programs.
  2. What is the FLL Jr. program structure?
    • The eight-week program is divided into three stages.
      • The first stage focuses on researching the real-world challenge topic to understand the problem and what are the causes of the problem.
      • The second stage encourages students to work as a team and come up with ideas and developing solutions to address the assigned problem.
      • The last stage is to bring the ideas to life by using the various material such as LEGO bricks to create prototypes or models and use robotics/coding to have a component that moves. A poster is also developed to document and share what we have learned.
    • Each week we mentor students on specific soft skills such as team work, design thinking, problem-solving, communications, and collaboration.
  3. How many students in a workshop/team?
    • FLL Jr. workshop is limited to 12 students with 3-4 students in each team.
  4. Will each student get their own kit?
    • Each student will receive their own robotic kit to learn robotics and programming. However, the final model and solution to be developed is one per team. There will be one poster created per team as well.
  5. Do students use LEGO bricks every week?
    • No, this program is much more than just using bricks. LEGO bricks are only used in the last few weeks of the program, most of the time is spent in researching the topic, working in teams to come up with ideas to solve the problem. LEGO bricks are used to bring their solution to life by creating prototypes or models.
  6. What are the drop-off / pick up arrangements?
    • Students meet us at the nominated class room after school and they must be picked up by the end of the workshop by a parent or a guardian. We are happy to drop your child to the OOSH club. Just let us know.
  7. Why can’t year 6 students join the program?
    • FIRST(R) LEGO(R) League Junior program has age limits. We recommend checking out our LEGO® Mindstorms® EV3 program.
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