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FLL Overview

WHO IS ORTOP? AND WHO IS FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL)?
ORTOP is Oregon Robotics Tournament & Outreach program. It is a program of the Oregon University System and implements the FIRST® LEGO® League program in Oregon by providing workshops for coaches and organizing FLL tournaments for teams. ORTOP is the official FLL Operational Parter in Oregon. Our offices are located on the PSU campus in Portland. ORTOP does not sell robot kits or Field Set-up Kits. ORTOP does charge a modest fee to participate in tournaments.

FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) is aFIRST®program. FIRST is an international non-profit educational organization located in Manchester, New Hampshire. FIRST = For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.FIRST®creates theFIRST® LEGO® League annual game and tournament rules and standards. OtherFIRST®programs includeFIRST®Robotics Competition (FRC) andFIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) and JuniorFIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL). National registration is required to participate in any Oregon FLL event. FLL sells the annual Field Set-up Kit and NXT Robot kits through LEGO Education.
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What is a FIRST LEGO League(FLL) team and what do they do?
If you visited a FLL team meeting you would see 6 - 10 kids, ages 9 to 14, working with a NXT LEGO Mindstorm Robot kit.  A few kids would be using the 1000+ parts in the kit to construct a LEGO Robot with motors, sensors (light, touch, ultrasonic-distance and/or sound) and the NXT brick that acts as the robot's computer. The robot would also have 3 or 4 wheels to help it move around. 
See the following links for what is in a NXT kit:

Other kids would be at a 4-foot by 8-foot mat on a plywood table with current FLL Challenge LEGO mission Models. They would be figuring out strategies for the robot’s path or working with LEGO parts to construct attachments for the robot push, pull or lift items on the mission models to achieve the task. Click here for a video explanation of a previous season ’s missions.*

Other team members are on the Internet or looking in books for information on the team’s project.  The annual project involes open-ended exploration by the team members culuminating in a 5-minute presentation of the team’s solution to the annual assignment. Click here to see this year's Project assignment.

* FIRST will announce the details of this seaon's challenge and project soon. Visit the ORTOP home page on September 5, 2008 to learn more.

What every FLL team needs:

* Items that may be underwritten partially or completely by a team scholarship if your team qualifies.

** A Scholarship may provide funds to buy materials to build a table. The coach arranges for someone to build it. Some teams may decide to start with something simpler than a full table to serve as the surface for the mat that comes with the Field Set-Up Kit.

What does a Coach do?
At team meetings, the coach facilitates the team’s progress, helping them with teamwork skills, helping them find resources, teaching the robot building and programming skills she/he learned at the ORTOP free coach workshops, serving snacks, and keeping the team on task.  It is up to the team members to solve the challenge. Usually they will know more than the coach about how to build and program a robot and science behind the annual research project. Much of their learning comes from web research and by trial and error. Coaches also take care of registering the team, ordering kits, and scheduling meetings. The coach may be assisted by a co-coach, assistant coach or a mentor.

Sample FLL Team Budget

To participate in FIRST LEGO League in 2008 each team of 3 -10 students should have:

* usable for multiple years
** FLL NXT Robot Set comes with a rechargeable battery pack. Other kits may require replacing batteries.

See also fundraising and team scholarships.

Please contact us if you have questions.

Dividing line

Team Members

WHO IS ON A FLL TEAM?

Quotes from Team Members

“This is what I kind of wanted to be when I grew up. So this gave me the chance to do it. And you can’t really watch engineers do what they do. You have to do it yourself.”

“What I liked best about the tournament today was working with my team. We had been a team before and we had really bonded, but this was like the climax to everything we had been working on for months, and it was just really exciting.”

“At first I wanted to be a haircut girl and now I want to be kind of like a scientist or a science teacher.

FLL Age Policy

The FIRST LEGO League policy on the age of team members is nine to fourteen years old.

Are you a current FLL Coach with FLL team members who are close to aging out of FLL or have aged out? Consider transitioning to FIRST Tech Challenge or FIRST Robotics Competition
2010 letter to FLL coaches ...coming soon
2010 FTC at Glance...coming soon

FLL Registration

NATIONAL FIRST LEGO LEAGUE REGISTRATION

The national registration opens May 3rd and closes when the targeted number of FLL teams have been assigned by the FIRST. Early registration is encouraged. Cost is $200 and includes the FLL Coaches Handbook, access to national discussion forums, national registration to participate in FLL. 

ORTOP REGISTRATION for Qualifying Tournaments: Please click here for more information.

Ordering FLL Kits

Each team will need access to an FLL Robot Set and a Field Set Up kit. The Robot kit can be used for several seasons but the Field Set up kit changes each year. The Field Set up Kit consists of a 4 x 8 printed mat and Challenge Missions made of LEGO elements. These kits can be ordered at the same time you register your team with FIRST LEGO League. If you already have a LEGO Robotics kit, you may be able to upgrade it rather than purchase a new FLL Robot Set.

In 2010 teams can use the new NXT robot kit or the older RCX robot kit. At the time of FLL national registration, teams can purchase a NXT robot while FLL registration remains open . If teams wish to use their an RCX kit, they do not have to purchase a new NXT robot.  FLL will allow teams to purchase one NXT kit per FLL registration.

NXT Robots can also be purchased directly from LEGO Education with your FLL national registration, LEGO Education, LEGO Retail Store or through the used market such as EBay or Craig's List.

ORTOP does not sell NXT Robot Kits.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NXT KITS - Click here

FLL Coaches' News

FLL Coach and Mentor Honor Code We ask that all adults acting as coaches and mentors read and subscribe to the FLL Coach and Mentor Honor Code. Coaches will be asked to affirm their agreement with this code when they register online for a qualifying tournament. For guidance on effective coaching and mentoring techniques we suggest attending the Coaching & Mentoring Techniques workshop. Coaches should also read the FLL Core Values Observation Policy.

2010 ORTOP NEWSLETTER FOR FLL Coaches, Mentors and Team Coordinators
          

Something new for 2010. The full content of the ORTOP e-newsletter will appear here. An abbreviated list of topics with a link to this webspot will be sent to members of ortopfll(at)lists.ous.edu

8/26/10 -
FLL Registration- Oregon is up to 184 registered FLL teams! ORTOP is a little over halfway to our goal of 360 teams. If you know of

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8/10/10 - ORTOP FIRST LEGO League Update
1.FLL REGISTRATION - Oregon has 150 FIRST LEGO League teams registered. That's less than half of our goal for the 2010 Body Forward season. More than 1/2 of the BODY FORWARD USA team numbers are already assigned. With schools starting this week in the South and Mid-West I anticipate the numbers will start going quickly. You don't have to pay at the time you start your registration. You will have until the end of Septmember to pay for a registered team. If you haven't registered, please take the time to do it.
FLL REGISTRATION LINK. Body Forward Challenge kits are shipping already!

2. SCHOLARSHIPS. ORTOP has funds available for NEW team registrations. If you know a school or group of kids that might not participate in FLL because of economic barriers, please direct an interested adult to the ORTOP FLL Scholarship page.

3. INTEL KIDS DAY 2010 - ( Intel Oregon is the Title Spnsor for our 10th FLL Season! )

I’m forwarding the following volunteer opportunity from Kingsum Chow, FLL Coach of the Nanites and C D Venkatesh, FLL Coach of Afoofa and rookie FTC Coach of Flaming Cup Noodles.
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We have a wonderful volunteering opportunity for you to participate in Intel Kids Day on Thursday Aug 19 at Intel Jones Farm. Please consider sharing the joy of your FLL and Jr.FLL experience. Volunteers are needed for demonstrating a robot for the "Smart Move" missions, guiding participants in NXT Hands On Challenge Stations targeting for FLL, and involving the little kids in LEGO building activities targeting for Jr.FLL. If you can help a couple of hours between 9am and 3pm on Aug 19, at Intel Jones Farm, Hillsboro, please let Kingsum Chow know by sending an e-mail to kingsum.chow@gmail.com what activities you would like to help out.

4. ORTOP FLL Workshops and specificallly Workshop III - Our ORTOP FLL Workshop Committee redesigned our FLL Workshop III to include more skills in navigation. Ever wonder why some teams can program their robot to navigate to the same place with excellent repeatability? Workshop III can help you learn new skills to teach to your team. We'll be offering a couple of Workshop III sessions in September for Veteran Coaches. Dates TBD! If you want to review the materials...CLICK HERE! Spaces in the other workshops for August and September are limited! JUST ANNOUNCED - Workshops in LINCOLN CITY - AUG 28, McMINNVILLE - Sept. 11, ROSEBURG AND HOOD RIVER - SEPT. 18. ONLNE REGISTRATION --CLICK HERE
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6/6/10 - ORTOP snail mailed letters to our 2009 FLL Coaches on 6/6/10. If you missed receiving yours here is what we sent.
Spring FLL Coach Letter

ORTOP 10th Anniversary Celebration News

ORTOP 2010 Informational flyer

5/24/10

1) FLL/LEGO Robotics Workshops
The Schedule for ORTOP FLLWorkshop for Adults is now posted --CLICK HERE FOR INFO . If you know someone who is starting a team in the fall or if someone is joining your team as an additional adult mentor/asst. coach, please let them know about the workshops. If you are a veteran coach that didn't attend the workshops or need a refresher course, you are welcome to sign up. Currently the posted workshops are in the Portland area. We will be posting an out of town workshop schedule of one-day Expanded workshops soon. If any community outside of Portland has 10 - 12 adults committed to coaching teams, we'll arrange to hold a workshop in that community. Let us know.
And just for teachers....SuperQuest registration is open. This 4 day summer workshop in LEGO Robotics(FLL) and Tetrix Robotics(FTC) will be held June 22 - 24 at Hillsboro High School and August 3 - 6 at Oregon State University.

2) ORTOP's 10th Anniversary Celebration - How your team can participate!
This fall marks ORTOP's 10th FIRST LEGO League season. We'd like to celebrate by inviting more Oregon and SW Washington kids to participate in our program. To recognize our teams that help in these efforts, we're going to build a giant LEGO birthday cake. Each time your team volunteers to promote FLL or volunteers to help in other ways we'll add a LEGO brick with your team number to the ORTOP LEGO Birthday Cake. Only a few weeks of school remain... let's get the word out!
Some ideas to get you started:
____Register your own team for FLL 2010: Body Forward
____Present FLL at a spring event at your school or other community gathering place.
____Invite a small group of kids and adults to a FLL LEGO evening at your meeting place or home.
____Help kids in your community form and start a FLL team.
____Hang up/distribute ORTOP flyers in your community to spread the word.
____What other activities can you think to do??? Jr.FLL???

Report any activities you've already done or have done going forward to ORTOP at questions@ortop.org .Include what you did, where you did it and your team number. We'll post them and create a LEGO Brick with your team's number on it. (If you haven't registered yet, we'll use last year's number and change it to the new number)
LET'S BUILD A HUGE CAKE TOGETHER!
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5/4/10

  1. FLL Coaches/ Mentors - ORTOP hopes you'll be joining us for the Body Forward season this fall.
    Body Forward: "Engineering Meets Medicine"

    Can FIRST® LEGO® League Teams improve our quality of life? Through the 2010 Body Forward™ Challenge, 9 to 14 year olds* will explore the cutting-edge world of Biomedical Engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions, and maximize the body's potential, with the intended purpose of leading happier and healthier lives.

  2. FLL Registration is now open. Things you should know about registering. 1) You don't need to know team members names. 2) You don't have to pay right away. 3) After you pay, your registration packet will sent and robot kit if you ordered one. 4) The Body Forward Field Set-Up Kit and Mat will be shipped in early August even if you pay now.

  3. ORTOP FLL Workshops - Schedule/Registration will be posted soon. Beginning workshops start June 22. The ORTOP FLL Workshops Committee is developing a 4th Workshop exclusively for veteran coaches. Topic will be Advanced Navigation. It will include skills for coaches/mentors to teach their teams alternative navigation techniques beyond using time and rotation sensors to go somewhere. Look for this workshop in mid-August.

  4. SHARING YOUR FLL EXPERIENCE - ORTOP's goal is to have 360 FLL teams this fall! You can help us get there by distributing or posting ORTOP flyers in your community, presenting at the school spring science fair or other community event, reaching out and starting a sister FLL or Jr.FLL team and being their buddy team. If you are sharing FLL at an event, let us know and we'll post it on the webpage under FLL and FTC in the Community.

  5. Returning and New Team Scholarships - We hope to get to this later this week or early next. Stay tuned.

  6. Thank you to Intel Oregon - our first 2010 ORTOP Sponsor. This marks the 10th year Intel Oregon has sponsored ORTOP and will again be the title sponsor for ORTOP-FLL.

Intel Oregon FLL Championship Information for Coaches

Information regarding the Intel Oregon FLL Championships to take place January 2011 will be posted following the Intel Oregon Qualifying Events in December.

FLL Core Values World Festival Nomination Process

FIRST LEGO League Core Values is the cornerstone of the FIRS T LEGO League program. All FIRST LEGO League teams are invited to self assess how well they believe they had adhered to and implemented the FIRST LEGO League Core Values throughout the Body Forward: Engineering Meets Medicine season. Teams are encouraged to submit a FLL Core Values World Festival Nomination outlining how they implemented the FLL Core Values. Details for submitting a team FLL Core Values essay for the Smart Move season are posted at the link below.

FLL Core Values Team History
2008 - Power Puzzle Season - Fire Breather Rubber Duckies and Solar Dragons selected as Oregon's FLL Core Values Teams. Both were selected by the international FLL Core Values selection committee as outstanding FLL Core Values World Festival teams and received invitations to the FLL World Festival in Atlanta, Ga.
2009 - Climate Connections - Team Um was selected as Oregon's FLL Core Values Team. Team Um was selected by the international FLL Core Values selection committee as an outstanding FLL Core Values World Festival team and received an invitation to the FLL World Festival in Atlanta, Ga.
2010 - Smart Move - ShocknBots Turbo Boose was selected as Oregon's FLL Core Values Team. ShocknBots was selected by the international FLL Core Values selection committee as an outstanding FLL Core Values World Festival team and received an invitation to the FLL World Festival in Atlanta, Ga. Vist their blogspot

Questions and Answers