Updates, Updates, and more Updates!

First things first -- 

Field Trip on Friday.  You must have a signed permission slip to be able to come!

We'll go from yesterday, back:

Yesterday, Lillith led the Pajamma Grammas in a game to demonstrate her core value -- We Have FUN!  She had her teammates build a Lego structure exactly like a sample she brought in...without actually touching the bricks -- They had to use chopsticks!

Next up for Core Values on this team is Patrick on Monday, 9/24, followed by Pascale on 10/5.

The Wise Old Owls discussed their progress over a snack, then both teams came together for a demonstration of line following and a discussion about how important it is for their robots to be consistent -- change the robot, and chances are you'll have to change the program. 

A group of kids from each team went with Bruce to work on perfecting the robot base for the Wise Old Owls and to work on attachments (the PGs).

A separate group went with Sarah (WOOs) and Ms. Greenelsh (PGs) to talk about project work.  

And the last group worked on programming the light sensor.  We got as far as writing a program to find a line and stop. Then we worked through the logic for following a line as seen in the picture below (we had it on the whiteboard, but I didn't get a picture).  

We translated the sample readings you see in the image using < and > operators and were just about to turn it into programming magic when our time was up.  So, Justin, Jacob, Henry, Alex and Lillith, we'll get back to this.  In the mean time, see if you can explain it to your parents and your teams!

Last week:

Both teams completed the base builds of their robots.  Some of the kids started basic programs, progress was made on mission detail and we are moving!

Teams also started on perfecting the 90 degree turn -- one right, one left.  The Pajamma Grammas finished over the weekend, and Sue will continue to work with the Wise Old Owls to finish theirs as soon as possible. 

Introducing the Pajamma Grammas!  Team 4894 has a name!  The team also met with Maria Fletcher, their Senior partner.  Information the team gathered in talking with Maria:

• Likes about getting older: more time, reflective, senior discounts
• Dislikes - aches/pains, arthritis in neck - sleeping & arthritis in hands, getting shorter
• Does worry about her friends with major problems - cancer, getting sick.

The team is planning to tackle the neck issue as their project research focus.  

Notes from the Wise Old Owls:

Dominique led the team in a game involving getting toothpaste back in the bottle (yes, it was just as sticky as you are imagining!), which was an excellent way to learn about the core value “what we discover is more important than what we win.”

• Blake, Jacob and Justin worked with volunteer Bruce Ikelheimer to build our base robot.  On Friday, the robot will begin to be used for programming, and sensors and attachments will be added as the team works on the missions.  
• Dominique and Ellie worked with Ms. Greenelsh to research and document the general issue of arthritis, so that we are in a great position to narrow in on the specific issue of opening jars.  
• Sam and Henry plotted out all the steps of our first mission, and have identified both the programming needs (robot will need to follow a line; robot will need to recognize and stop at the green medicine bottle; robot will need an arm to hook the green medicine bottle and bring it back to base.)

Another Important Note:

We will have another field trip on 10/12, which is an early release day.  We're planning to try to make the timing close to a normal school day, but wanted to give you as much notice as possible!

On Friday, the teams split and rotated for half of practice working on the project and half working on robot-related things.

Core Values:
Both teams talked briefly about how separating and trusting the other small group to get an important task done today was a demonstration of teamwork -- That it doesn't always mean doing the same task; and that even if they chose something different, the idea is to test it out and support that plan, knowing that the plan will evolve and can change if it really needs to. 

The Wise Old Owls (formerly known only as 4982):
The team met with their Senior Partner, Martha Fleer, and enjoyed the homemade cookies she brought. The kids asked wonderful questions ranging from "what is the most challenging part of getting old," "what do you wish you could still do," "is it hard to go to bed" and "are you sad if your friends die?"  Ms. Fleer has arthritis, and we learned it causes problems ranging from sitting down on the floor, going up steps and opening jars. We ultimately decided that we wanted to focus on the problem of arthritis and the particular problem of opening jars. we will start researching the issue over the next couple of weeks!

In the second half of practice, the team played a game led by Jacob demonstrating the Core Value: We honor the spirit of friendly competition.  Then divided to pick some missions and a robot build.

Missions in order thus far:

1. Flexibility, 
2. Bowling, 
3. Stove, 
4. Transitions? Or Wood Working?

This group would love to have a plow for an attachment

And, the team selected a base build for starting their robot:  
The Castor bot - http://nxtprograms.com/castor_bot/index.html
They decided they would borrow elements from the others that we looked at if they needed to make improvements on the base build.

Team 4894 (still working on a name):

Started with robot selection:
The Sturdy Motor Attachment bot on pages 19 - 22 of this doc - http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/content/lego/building/media/Constructopedia%202.pdf
The wanted narrow, strong, able to accommodate lots of attachments.  There was a lot of discussion about where the third motor can go. 

Core Value activities:  Each child will lead an activity related to the core value they are tracking.  Lillith volunteered to be first -- next Friday (9/14).  After that, in order are: Patrick, Pascale, Mo, Sebastian, Aaron, Emma, and Alex. 


Missions in order thus far:

1. Quilts
2. Video Call
3. Service Animal 
4. Stove?

Project: Last week the team discussed focusing on the problem of falls, so we spent our time together discussing what sort of Senior Partner the team wanted.  In addition to being over age 60, the kids determined the partner should be nice, kind and a good cook.  A number of prospective partners were proposed, and the kids ultimately voted on Sebastian's grandmother, Maria Fletcher.  She lives in Florida, and she's delighted to be the team's partner.  She is in town all next week, and will join the team on Monday. 

 

Team members need to come to practice Monday with suggestions for 2 team names.

Friday Summary

There was a LOT in one practice on Friday!

Teams split into groups and discussed the research project.

Team 4984 (led by Sue) decided on a topic (falls) and kids are working on identifying who they will ask to be their senior partner. Kids that haven't yet spoken with someone over 60 about aging related issues need to do so.

Team 4982 (led by Sarah) came away with a list of potential partners to ask, and is working on having questions ready.  To that end, each team member should be working on two questions for their partner (politely worded and respectful) designed to help isolate the most pressing issues that their partner faces.

Both teams will decide on a name in the coming weeks (which will be WAY more fun than those numbers!)  The name can be Lego-related, robot-related or theme related (aging, the specific issue they research or even the name of the partner would be good options here).  Think about it and come in ready to do some brainstorming next Friday.

Teams watched the official 2012 SENIOR SOLUTIONS(SM) Robot Game Video.  This goes through each mission in the robot game and explains them one at a time.  If you still don't quite get the robot or what the kids will do with it, this is a GREAT place to start!

Each child came home with a Mission Map Worksheet, and a description of the mission they chose to work on mapping (from the Complete Challenge Document issued by FIRST).  There's a picture of the table on the front.  They need to draw the path the robot will take to complete the mission and return to base.  There are tips for picking the best route and questions they need to answer on the back.  These worksheets will serve as the foundation for prioritizing and starting to program missions.  So, getting these done and keeping them in the notebook used for FLL (so they come back to practice) is VERY important!

Big thanks to Jo, who go the pieces on the game table for the kids to look at.  If you haven't seen the table yet, here's an idea of what it will look like.