Sunday, October 24, 2010

Network News Coverage of the Inventioneers at White House Science Fair

Here is a TV news segment on our visit to the White House to meet President Obama! Click the image below to go to the YNN website!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Inventioneers Meet With President Obama!



In an amazing turn of events, the Inventioneers were invited to the first White House Science Fair on Monday, October 18. We weren't sure what to expect but it was a fun adventure. The White House invited the top award winners from international and national science competitions and some were invited to have exhibits. Three FIRST teams were invited and we all did our best to make FIRST proud! We brought our STOW-or-GO table, our robot, our Don't DUIT materials and most importantly, our SMARTwheel! We never dreamed the President of the United States would try out our invention! He spent about 10 minutes with us asking us all about our FIRST LEGO League experiences and how we got our ideas. We joked back and forth and he encouraged us to bring our ideas to the marketplace. Check out some of our press coverage:

Monday, October 18, 2010

Inventioneers Say: Time for a Progress Check!

To New Teams:

The Body Forward Rubrics are a helpful guide for your team to make sure you are on track in all areas of FLL. Periodically reviewing the rubrics can help your team members gauge your team's progress! Since every team member doesn't have a copy of the Coaches' Handbook (the rubrics are in the back of the book), have members download the rubrics here: Body Forward Rubrics, 2010 and review them for homework. If your team members are young, have their parents go over the rubrics with them. Then, in your team meeting, review everyone's ideas about how the team is progressing according to the rubrics.

Team members should check the project rubrics to make sure they have covered all areas the judges will be evaluating. If you need to change any part of your project or presentation, it's easier to do that now than later!

For technical rubrics, review and make sure your team understands them and is prepared to answer any judging questions based on those rubrics. For teamwork, use the rubrics to make sure your team-building efforts are on track!

Live, Laugh, LEGO!
The Inventioneers

Monday, October 11, 2010

New Column: Dear Inventioneers

This Week's Topic: Table Talk

Dear Inventioneers,

Do you just lay the mat down on the table or do you adhere it in some way?

Rookie team in MA



Dear "Rookie",

Do not attach your mat to your table. At your tournament, mats will not be adhered to the table in any way. They may have just been rolled out the day of your tournament and may still have ripples in them and the ends may be curled up a little (which can be a surprise to rookie teams). Also, be aware that tournament tables (all tables, in reality) are often slightly different sizes, may not be level, may have knots and bumps under the surface or along sidewalls, etc. This is one of the main things new teams may not be thinking about. The robot can be affected by table surface differences - not foam v. plywood but any table to any other table.

One thing we encourage teams to do is . . .