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FLL Coaches'Corner

FLL Overview

FLL National Registration

Robot Kit Info

Qualifying Tournament
Forms and Documents

FLL Core Values Nomination Process

Questions and Answers (where to send an email or call)

Inclement Weather and Event Cancellation Policy

FLL Coaches'Corner - Important things for you to know/key links

ORTOP FLL NEWSLETTER

ORTOP UPDATE - FLL e-NEWSLETTERS ARE AVAILBLE TO VIEW BY CLICKING HERE and then Click

Each time a newsletter is posted an email notification is sent to the coach and anyone else subcribed to ortopfll .

HOT TOPIC THIS WEEK- 11/1/11 - More details about Qualifying Tournaments

THE CHALLENGE

 

Q.)WHERE DO I FIND THE FOOD FACTOR CHALLENGE?
A.) CLICK HERE to see the Robot Game, The Project and Core Values.


YOUR OFFICIAL TEAM NUMBER

 

Q.) DO YOU KNOW YOUR TEAM's FLL NUMBER?
It's important to know. ORTOP does not rely on team names. You must know your 2011 FLL team number. It changes every year.
A.) Click here to see the current list of teams registered in Oregon and SW Washington.

HONOR CODE

 

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.

 
Online COACH HANDBOOK FLL COACH HAND BOOK - was included in your registration packet from FIRST or read online

 

ORTOP QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT FORMS & Documents

CONSENT AND RELEASE FORM

FIRST CONSENT FORM 2011-2012_English - Required document to be signed by parent or guardian. Coach must bring one signed document for each child attending the tournament. Coach can not sign for any child that is not their own.

FIRST CONSENT FORM 2011-2012_Spanish - same document as above but in Spanish.

QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

 Oregon anticipates holding 24 FLL Qualifying Tournaments in December 2011. Click Here for Schedule
Registering for a QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

After national FLL registration closes, ORTOP will send an e-invite to teams registered in Oregon and SW Washington. Teams will be provided a link to an online application for a ORTOP Qualifying Event. Teams can compete in ONE qualifying event. Participation in ORTOP events are limited to teams residing in Oregon and Clark County, Washington area or any county that borders Oregon.

Oregon QT registration is not closed for the Food Factor season.

ORTOP DOES NOT use the national FIRST LEGO League registration system to register team for any event at gofll.usfirst.org

Inclement Weather and Cancellation Policy

The safety of the team members and our volunteers is the most important consideration. The FIRST LEGO League Operational Partners for Oregon use that consideration to guide all decisions when deciding to cancel or delay an event. Oregon's FLL Operational Partners will cancel or delay an event using information from the US Weather Bureau to help us forecast if it would be safe for a majority of the teams/volunteers to travel to and from the event. If the site host closes their facility because of weather, health and emergency related reasons, the event will be canceled. Coaches and parents must always assess their own travel route for safety and make their own decision to travel. Keep it in perspective. The safety of the kids is the most important consideration. Official information site for tournament cancellations or delays is http://www.ortop.org/fll . In addition, ORTOP and QT Directors will email to both the primary and emergency contact email addresses with notification or updates. The third method of contact is by phone using the emergency phone number provided by the coach. If any of this information has changed since October, please update your Qualifying Tournament Director. Please note: If an event is canceled it is impossible to reschedule it. Site hosts have booked their facilities months in advance. There is no time to reschedule prior to the Championship. State Championship slots left open by an event cancelation will be assigned by lottery from teams affected by the cancelation. Revised 10/01/11
I have more questions who do I contact?

Questions are always welcomed at questions@ortop.org or you can call 503-725-2920


Robot Game & Project should be directed to FIRST LEGO League Headquarters.…..

Robot game rule/strategy questions -------> flltech@usfirst.org
Project questions should go to ------->fllprojects@usfirst.org
Judging questions should go to--------> flljudge@usfirst.org

 

FLL Overview

WHO IS ORTOP? 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.
WHO IS FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL)?

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.

What is a FIRST LEGO League(FLL) team and what do they do? CLICK HERE

 

FIRST LEGO League Team Members
WHO IS ON A FLL TEAM?
  • GIRLS and BOYS!
  • Kids from the City, Suburbs and Rural areas.
  • Kids on school teams, neighborhood teams, scout teams, church teams, after-school club teams...
  • Kids on FLL teams are from every ethnic background.
  • Kids that like being on teams and working to accomplish a goal together.
  • Kids that want to explore engineering or science by hands-on participation.
  • This year 200,000 kids from 63 countries around the world will participate in FLL.
What do FLL Team Members say about FLL?
  • “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.

 
Upper Age Limit To participate in the 2011 season, a team member must be younger than fifteen at the beginning of the year. This means that students who turn fifteen after January 1, 2011 can participate in the 2011 season. In other words, students must be 14 years old on January 1, 2011.
Lower Age Limit Parents of children who were younger than nine on January 1, 2011 should ask the team's coach if the child can participate on the team. Coaches are encouraged to consider younger team members but the final decision is theirs.
for High School 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
for Kindergarten - 3rd grade Junior FIRST LEGO League!
FLL Registration

NATIONAL FIRST LEGO LEAGUE REGISTRATION - https://gofll.usfirst.org

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 $225 and includes the FLL Coaches Handbook, access to national discussion forums, national registration to participate in FLL.  Teams will also need to purchase an annual challenge kit (also called Field Setup Kit) for $65 and has the option to purchase a FLL NXT Mindstorm kit that includes the NXT Base Kit, Education Resource Kit and software.

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

Ordering a FLL kits for your team.

NXT ROBOT KIT

and

Annual Challenge FIELD SET-UP KIT

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. Every team must have access to the annual field challenge kit. Teams meeting in the same location can share one challenge kit. A team must have one robot kit per team and can not share robot kits.

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 2011 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 or field set-up kit or national registrations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NXT KITS - Click here

   
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FLL Core Values - A history of Oregon World Festival Core Values teams

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 FOOD FACTOR season. Beginning in 2012, FLL Core Values is now a part of the FLL Challenge. All teams are expected to include Core Values elements into their team experience.

Starting in 2011, the FLL World Festival held in April 2012 in St. Louis, will not hold a special FLL Core Values World Festival nomination process. Oregon is proud that from 2008 - 2011, five Oregon teams were selected to attend the FLL World Festival as globally recognized FLL World Festival Core Values teams.

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 Boost 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

2011 - Body Forward - The BrickLinks were selected as Oregon's FLL Core Values Team. BrickLinks were also 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 St. Louis, MO. The team received the 1st Place Inspiration Award at the FLL World Fest.