First FLL Meeting

We had our first FLL meeting this week.  It was fantastic to have time for a meeting to just organize the team, set goals and rules for team participation, and get to know each other.  The team will be working through NXT programming tutorials for the next few weeks to improve their programming skills for the upcoming missions in August.

The team consists of three incoming fourth graders, four incoming fifth graders, one incoming sixth grader, and one incoming seventh grader.  Six of our nine team members made up our first FLL team last year.  I consider last season a success since they all returned.  I am excited to see the team grow, in part, so the workload isn't as heavy for each team member.  It looks to be a great season.

Idaho TECH Challenge

Our school participated in the NASA sponsored Idaho TECH Challenge competition this spring.  It was a fantastic experience for the students.  I would recommend it to any group.  LEGO Technics are used to design a Mars Rover.  The rover competes in weight, speed, hill climb, rock collection, and a blind driving test.  Teams are also evaluated on their lab notebooks, team poster, and presentation.  It was a lot to complete with a team of only three fourth grade students, but I think we will have a bigger team next year.  Fun! Fun! Fun!

http://ed.isu.edu/Idaho_TECH/index.shtml