Congratulations

Congratulations to Team 13383 (Grrl-Z Bears) for winning the grand prize at the FIRST Lego League Qualifying Tournament at Intel Jones Farm Campus today (12/01/2012). They had their pit all decorated really cool with a purple table cloth and balloons. They had costumes for their skit. And they sang the core values. I didn't see their robot perform, but I think they will be a tough team to beat at state.

First robotics meeting

Lots of energy! We didn't have our robot or field kit to work with, but I had some videos from my registration packet that I was able to share with them. We talked about the project a little bit, and we talked about the missions a little bit.

Nobel Prize Awarded Women

I'm trying to think of names to suggest to the girls for our robotics team. Most of the robotics teams have rather silly names, I think. Since ours is an all-girl team, and one of the great barriers for girls interested in science, technology, engineering and math is the lack of positive role models, I thought it might be interesting to name our team after a famous female scientist.

The first woman I thought of was Sally Ride. She was in the paper recently when she lost her battle with cancer, but I couldn't think of anything that sounded interesting, and I couldn't think of anyone else, so I decided to look up Nobel Prize winners.

"The Nobel Prize and Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded to women 44 times between 1901 and 2011. Only one woman, Marie Curie, has been honoured twice, with the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This means that 43 women in total have been awarded the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2011." -Nobel Prize.org

I am only interested in the scientists, so I get a list of 15 women:

1. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, 2008, physiology
2. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, 2009, physiology
3. Linda B. Buck, 2004, physiology
4. Gerty Cori, 1947, physiology
5. Marie Curie, 1903, physics, 1911, chemistry
6. Gertrude B. Elion, 1988, physiology
7. Carol W. Greider, 2009, physiology
8. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, 1964, chemistry
9. Irène Joliot-Curie, 1935, chemistry
10. Rita Levi-Montalcini. 1986 physiology
11. Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1963, physics
12. Barbara McClintock, 1983, physiology
13. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, 1995, physiology
14. Rosalyn Yalow, 1977, physiology
15. Ada E. Yonath, 2009, chemistry

Here is a list of synonyms for "builder: architect, artisan, constructor, contractor, craftsperson, erector, fabricator, framer, inventor, maker, manufacturer, mason, originator, producer

Possibilities: Barre's Builders, Blackburn's Builders, Buck's Builders, Cori's Contractors, Curie's Constructors, Elion's Erecto's or Mayer's Makers.

Registration Packet Arrives

Today (09/24/2012) I received in the mail my coaches' Handbook for the 2012 FLL Challenge, a packet of flyers for parents, a DVD guide to the FLL project and a compilation DVD.

• The compilation DVD has a bunch of short videos promoting the different competitions organized by FIRST. One of them features Keanu Reeves and another features Bill Gates. :-)
• The DVD Guide to the FLL Project is a video created by an FLL team explaining the project and giving helpful tips to competing teams.
• The Coaches' Handbook is a hundred pages long. I think I will read it a little at a time. :-)

Robotics training workshop

I just got back from an all-day training workshop in Salem. We covered a lot of topics. My head is reeling, but the most fun was building a robot and programing it. We built the robot from instructions, so that was pretty easy, and we wrote our first program from instructions, too, but by the end we wrote a program of our own. That was fun. My team's robot didn't actually complete its mission, but we had a lot of fun anyway.

I can't wait to get started. My robot kit isn't here yet, but we are already two weeks into the season, so I've decided to hold our first meeting next week anyway. If the robot isn't here by then, we can get started on the project.

I hope I can help the girls have a positive experience. There were moments today, when I was so frustrated, I just didn't want to do it anymore, but those moments passed, and I got excited about the next challenge.

Building the practice table

The instructions for the practice table are very simple. The materials list:

• One (1) sheet of plywood 4 feet x 8 feet x 1/2 inch
• Six (6) boards 2 inches x 4 inches x 8 feet. Actually, the instructions called for 2x3s, but it was written give or takes 1/2 inch. I happen to know that 2x4 is only 3 1/2 inches wide, so I thought that is what they meant, but they felt the need to be more explicit as they are engineers, and their audience is international. I since learned that no, they really would prefer you to buy 3 inch boards if you can find them. I wish I had tried. My table wouldn't be so heavy.
• black paint
• wood screws
• saw horses

I already have a pair of saw horses and several boxes of wood screws left over from past projects. The table went together without much trouble. My challenge was that I wanted to store it out of the way between meetings, so that my husband could still park his truck in the garage. I came up with a system of pulleys which seem to be working, but it took a little trial and error.

My first configuration did not work.

Too heavy.

My second configuration did not work.

The table did not lift straight up.

The troop chose a crest

The troop finally chose their crest last night. Previously they had attempted to choose a crest at spring camp, but the conversation became contentious. In retrospect it may have seemed to have a lot to do with the fact that they had not slept well for two nights in a row, but two camps formed. A few girls REALLy wanted the unicorn (beauty) and a few girls REALLY wanted the honeybee (hard work).

Wisely, our troop leader decided to table the discussion for awhile. Tonight she presented them will a list of attributes that each crest stands for, and they debated that instead. It came down to two camps again, though. A few girls voted for friendship (lei) and a few girls voted for strength (crane). Since there were only five girls at the meeting, there wasn't a tie, so the winner was: friendship (the lei).

I think this is the perfect crest for our troop. Without our friends: what's the point. It was my daughter Samantha that campaigned the hardest for strength, and I can understand why. She takes a lot of pride in her personal strength, but I think the lei better represents the troop. :)