2007 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship Awards

Check out some photos from this year's event: http://www.natronaschools.org/roboticsweb/Site/robotics.html

Wyoming FLL Champion's Award
1st Oregon Trail Lazer Blazers
2nd Crest Hill Fire Breathing Programmers
3rd Sage Valley NXT Generation of Eagles

Robot Performance Award
Tie - 1st Crest Hill Fire Breathing Programmers
Tie - 1st Oregon Trail Lazer Blazers
3rd Centennial Robo Eagles

Robot Design Award
1st SAMS P.R.E.S.S.
2nd Buffalo Clear Creek Techno Bandits
3rd Dean Morgan Comet Riders

Research Presentation Award
1st Pineview Cyborg Bandits
2nd Manor Heights Rockin' Rockstar Robots
3rd Frontier Firewolves

Teamwork Award
1st CCA Nerd Herd
2nd CYJH Greasers
3rd Evansville Transformers

Gracious Professionalism Award
1st Douglas Bearcat Blaster Masters
2nd Verda James Robo Kings 1
3rd Woods Learning Center Conservoids

Team Spirit Award
1st Jackson Technical Difficulties
2nd Paradise Valley Terabyte Tigers
3rd Laramie Snowy Range Academy Robo Joes

Adult Coach Mentor - Annette Green from GEAR UP Gearbots
Young Adult Mentor - Alex Custard from CYJH Greasers
Volunteer - Mary Kathryn Perkins, George Hepworth, Jeff Brewster

2007 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Robotics Championship

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Robotics Championship, a statewide robotics competition for children ages 9-14, will take place on Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1, 2007 at the Casper Events Center. This year's FLL challenge is entitled "Power Puzzle" and focuses on energy. There will be 46 teams from across Wyoming competing in four categories: Robot Missions, Research Presentation, Technical Performance, and Teamwork.

Friday, November 30th, 6:00 PM

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Special Guest:
Dr. John Callas, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Spirit and Opportunity: The Great Exploration of the Red Planet Keeps Going
(Wyoming FLL Robot Practice round to follow presentation)

Saturday, December 1st, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship
Morning: Judged Events
Afternoon: Opening Ceremonies, Robotics Competition, Awards

*All events are open to the public and have no admission fee.

Call for Volunteers (Volunteer System Closed)

*****The Volunteer Registration System has been closed to allow final volunteer job placement. Drop-in Volunteers are still welcome on Dec. 1st. We will assign you duties as needed!*****

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is back for its second year! Wyoming FLL robotics competition has grown to an official Championship Event with 48 teams from all over the state.

In order for this event to be successful, we need MANY volunteers. We STILL need volunteers to help with the competition in general. Individuals interested in being a volunteer can sign up here.



IMPORTANT DATES
Judge Training (must commit to at least one) - Tuesday, November 13 OR Monday, November 26, 6:00-7:30 PM at Centennial Junior High TOSA Lab (Room 223)

Referee Training (must commit to at least one) - Thursday, November 15 OR Tuesday, November 27, 6:00-7:30 PM at Centennial Junior High TOSA Lab (Room 223)

GENERAL VOLUNTEERS:
We are in need of volunteers for various jobs the day of the event. You can volunteer for a few hours or the whole day. You will find it to be a very rewarding experience contributing to the youth of Wyoming.

REWARDS:
No matter what volunteer role you choose, you will be provided with a free t-shirt, access to the volunteer hospitality room, and our sincere thanks. Most importantly, you will get to enjoy watching the teamwork, camaraderie, craftsmanship, learning, and team spirit provided by the fine students of Wyoming.

Wyoming FLL Championship Event - Saturday, December 1 at the Casper Events Center, specific time will be determined by job.

FLL Registration Closed

Registrations for FIRST LEGO League are now closed for the 2007 season.

Less than 200 team slots remaining in North America!

As of Sept. 27th- 6,548 teams registered in the U.S. and Canada. (There are only 6700 registration slots available)

Just a very important FYI...

If you are wanting to register a team for this year's Power Puzzle season I would recommend doing so very soon. We are hearing that North American registrations are coming in very quickly and registration may be closed within the next week or so.

To register a team proceed to http://register4fll.com

Wyoming Teams, please let me know if you register a team so I can update our records. I currently have 49 teams listed as registered in Wyoming. Visit our Wyoming Team List page to see if I have your team(s) listed. If you are not on the list and have a FLL team number please email me ASAP (jeff_brewster@ncsd.k12.wy.us).

Wyoming FLL 2006 Video

Wyoming FLL Presentation

Here is a PDF copy of the Wyoming FIRST LEGO presentation from this year's Wyoming Fall School Improvement. The file is 4.2 MB so be patient while the file downloads.

Wyoming FLL at 2007 Fall School Improvement Conference

Wyoming FLL will be presenting at this year's Fall 2007 Wyoming School Improvement Conference. Our session will be this Monday, September 24, 2007 @ 1:15-2:15 pm in the Gourmet Room at the Parkway Plaza in Casper, Wyoming.
Please come and visit our session!

Here is our session description:

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League (FLL). This presentation will share how the power of LEGO MINDSTORM robotics and the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Organization combine to provide students age 9-14 an amazing opportunity. FLL combines the excitement of athletic competition and the challenges of building and problem solving into the FIRST LEGO League competition. Students design, build and program robots to solve each year’s challenge. In addition to the robot challenge, teams create a presentation where they share their solution to a real-world problem.

This year's FIRST LEGO League challenge is called Power Puzzle. Students will explore the following challenge: "How do our personal energy choices to heat our homes, fuel our cars, charge our cell phones, power our computers, or even download music to our iPods impact the environment, economy, and life around the globe? Which resources should we use and why? Explore how energy production and consumption choices affect the planet and our quality of life today, tomorrow, and for future generations. Can FIRST LEGO League teams find the ultimate solution to this global Power Puzzle?"

The Wyoming FLL Championship will provide an exciting venue for students to display their learning from the 2007 FLL Power Puzzle season. We will share details about the competition and detail how schools and/or districts can get involved.

The second annual Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship will be held in Casper on Saturday, December 1, 2007 and is open for statewide participation.

See http://www.usfirst.org/what/fll/default.aspx?id=390 and http://wyomingfll.blogspot.com for more information.

New Coaches Classes

As promised, here are a couple of coaches training sessions. These two sessions will target the needs of New Coaches. However, all coaches are welcome to attend.

Training will be held at Centennial, Room 223 from 4 pm to 6 pm. (Space is limited to 20)

Tuesday, September 18: Building your first LEGO robot, Intro to NXT Programming
Thursday, September 27: Intermediate NXT Programming

Please send me an email if you plan on attending either or both.

2007 Power Puzzle Challenge Details

FIRST has release this year's Power Puzzle Challenge.

You can check out all the details HERE.

Quick Links:
Challenge Project
Robot Missions
Videos: Mission and Project

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League KickOff Meeting TODAY

We will be hosting our Wyoming FIRST LEGO League KickOff meeting on Wednesday, September 5th beginning at 4:00 pm. The meeting will be at the Casper College Energy Institute, Room 100.

The meeting will cover:
•Power Puzzle KickOff Videos
•Where to find the critical information you will need for the season
•Details regarding the Power Puzzle Project
•Details regarding the Power Puzzle Missions

Hopefully you will leave the meeting equipped to tackle this year's Power Puzzle Challenge with your students.

See you Wednesday, September 5.

FLL Flyer to advertise your LEGO Robotics team

Here is a flyer to help you advertise your FIRST LEGO League team. I hope this helps you to spread the word about FLL in your school or organization.

[Click on the image to download the PDF file]

Photos from 2006 Wyoming FLL Tournament

Wyoming FLL Flyer

Here is a flyer with information about Wyoming FLL 2007.

If you would like to register a team for FIRST LEGO League please visit http://register4fll.com to get your team started. Please also contact Jeff Brewster to ensure we can anticipate the number of Wyoming teams that are getting started.

Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Important Dates

2007 Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Dates

:: Aug 1...........Field Set Up Kits begin to ship
:: Sept............Registration closes when all slots are filled
:: Sept 5.........INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE RELEASE
:: Oct 1...........Tournament registration opens
:: Oct 12..........Tournament registration closes
:: Nov-Jan.......Tournament season
:: Dec 1...........Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Championship
:: April 2008....World Festival in Atlanta

Photos from Wyoming FLL 2006

Here are a few of the photos from last year's Wyoming FIRST LEGO League tournament.


Created with Paul's flickrSLiDR.

Wyoming FLL Coaches Clinic a great success!

The Wyoming FIRST LEGO League coaches clinic held on June 11 & 12 at Casper College was a great success. Participants from around the state attended for two days and gained valuable information on how to start a FIRST LEGO program at their sites. In addition, they gained some valuable hands on experiences with the LEGO MINDSTORM NXT robotics sets and software. We are grateful for the time and effort of all individuals that made this possible and hope that this is the beginning of something great for all the children in Wyoming.


Created with Paul's flickrSLiDR.

More pictures will be added later.

It isn't too late to sign up

You still have time to sign up for our statewide Wyoming FIRST LEGO League Coaches Clinic. The coaches clinic is open statewide we hope to have participation from as many towns from around Wyoming as possible. The coaches clinic will provide you with the information that you need to start FIRST LEGO League in your school or community. The clinic will be great for those that are starting teams this fall. Those that just needing more information about FIRST LEGO can come Monday afternoon. We will share the big picture about the program and the benefit it provides to students.

REGISTER HERE

WHEN: Monday & Tuesday, June 11 - 12, 2007
WHERE: Casper College, Energy Institute Building, Room 100 (MAP)

TIMES/TOPICS:
Monday (1 pm - 4 pm) - What everyone needs to know about FIRST LEGO League
1:00-1:30 Welcome - Introductions
1:30-2:00 Overview of FIRST
2:00-2:45 FLL Competition Overview
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-3:30 Coaches Role (NCSD Coaches)
3:30-3:45 How to Register
3:45-4:00 Q&A

Tuesday (8 am - 4 pm) - NXT Building & Programming (Breakfast & Lunch will be provided Tuesday)
8:00-8:30 Breakfast/Q&A followup
8:30-9:00 Programming Basics
9:00-11:30 Programming/Building Activities
11:30-12:30 Lunch
12:30-3:00 NanoQuest Mission Practice
3:00-3:30 NanoQuest Mini-Competition
3:30-4:00 Disassemble Robots/WrapUp

Current List of Participating Communities: (If you don't see your town represented please send me an email if you would like to get things started for the students in your community.)

• Casper
• Midwest
  
• Douglas
• Gillette
• Upton
• Rawlins
• Evanston
• Buffalo
• Jackson
• Laramie
  

2007 Challenge Topic

POWER PUZZLE - 2007 Season

How do our personal energy choices to heat our homes, fuel our cars, charge our cell phones, power our computers, or even download music to our iPods impact the environment, economy, and life around the globe? Which resources should we use and why? Explore how energy production and consumption choices affect the planet and our quality of life today, tomorrow, and for future generations. Can FIRST LEGO League teams find the ultimate solution to this global Power Puzzle?

Visit HERE for more information.

Senator Enzi Encourages Participation in Wyoming FLL

Senator Enzi has issued a press release encouraging Wyoming youth to join Wyoming FLL. Click HERE to read the full press release. We appreciate his support!

Wyoming FLL Coaches Clinic

Reminder: Wyoming FLL will be hosting a two-day coaches clinic on June 11 & 12 at Casper College. The training will be open for all those interested in FIRST LEGO League. The training will primarily focus on sites around Wyoming that are starting up teams for participation in the 2007 Wyoming FLL Competition that will be held in Casper on December 1st.

Monday, June 11 (1 pm - 4 pm): New Coaches Training
We will have sessions including the following:
-overview of the FIRST LEGO League program
-what does a the competition look like?
-what are the judging areas?
-what do I need to do as a coach/sponsor?
Tuesday, June 12 (8 am - 4pm): LEGO Mindstorms NXT building and Programming
This day will focus on getting individuals familiar with how to build robots out of NXT sets and how to use the NXT programming software.

If you plan on attending, please fill out the following registration form:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=749523528837

Thanks!

FIRST World Festival on YouTube

Check out the YouTube video of this years FIRST World Festival. It was an amazing event! Great job FIRST!
If you look at one of the last slides [:29 seconds] you can even see Kendall Jacobs and Kevin Pagett in line to distribute awards during the FIRST LEGO League awards ceremony. :-)
If you are on the NCSD network YouTube will not work. Please visit this LINK to watch the quicktime video.

Wyoming FLL at School Improvement Conference

Wyoming FLL will be making two presentations at this year's spring Wyoming School Improvement Conference (http://www.k12.wy.us/SAA/nca.asp). The School Improvement Conference will be held on Monday and Tuesday, March 5-6 at the Parkway Plaza in Casper.

The Wyoming FLL sessions will be on Monday in the Railroad Room.
Monday, March 5, session 4, 2:30-3:30 pm
Monday, March 5, session 5, 3:45-4:45 pm

Please stop by to find out more information about how to get a robotics program started in your district.

Casper Volunteers Headed to Atlanta

Wyoming FLL has 9 individuals heading to Atlanta to volunteer to help at this year's FIRST Robotics World Festival held annually in Atlanta Georgia at the Georgia Dome. This year the World Festival will be held April 12-14.

Our primary goal is to learn as much as possible about a large scale robotics competition so we can improve here in Wyoming. Is there a better way to learn than to roll up our sleeves and jump in and help? We don't think so. Our secondary goal is to support FIRST's continued efforts to deliver a phenomenal experience to young minds from all over the globe.

Here are the volunteers from Natrona County, their funding source, and their job assignments:

Funded by Central Wyoming BOCES
Jeff Brewster - NCSD TOSA - Team Queuing
Mike Britt - NCSD TOSA - Judge's Assistant
Kevin Pagett -NCSD TOSA - Pit Administration Support
Kendall Jacobs - Casper College - Judge's Assistant

Funded by NCSD Curriculum & Instruction
Kora Huffman - NCSD Teacher - Practice Table Assistant
Frank Comiskey - NCSD Teacher - Practice Table Assistant
Cathy Bisiar - NCSD Instructional Facilitator - Pit Administration Support
Mauro Diaz - NCSD Teacher - Practice Table Assistant

Funded by Crest Hill Building Funds
Jim Stark - Principal Crest Hill Elementary -Pit Runner

Thanks to the volunteers for your willingness to help!