What is FIRST Lego League?
Tomorrow’s innovators practice imaginative thinking and teamwork. FLL teams research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc., and are challenged to develop a solution. They also must design, build, program a robot using LEGO EV3 robots, then compete on a table-top playing field.
It all adds up to tons of fun while they learn to apply science, technology, engineering, and math concepts (STEM), plus a big dose of imagination, to solve a problem. Along their journey, they develop critical thinking and team-building skills, basic STEM applications, and even presentation skills, as they must present their solutions with a dash of creativity to judges. They also practice the Program’s Core Values, which emphasize discovery, teamwork and good sportsmanship.
This year's FLL Challenge is Into Orbit. The students need to identify a problem that is faced during long-term space travel and then find a solution to that problem.
Second Semester: Archaeology
The purpose of this unit is to investigate archaeology and how it leads to a better understanding of cultures and civilizations throughout the world and throughout history. Students will learn a framework for viewing universals that appear in all cultures. They will apply these ideas to investigations of ancient cultures. In addition to this systems thinking, they will learn and practice the process that archaeologists use to gather information. After demonstrating creative thinking and teamwork, students will practice the skills of preserving, analyzing, interpreting and evaluating information. As we start this unit in January, I will send home more information about individual projects, but be prepared to get dirty when I invite you to join us for our Archaeology dig in early May.
