FLL-E, or FIRST LEGO League Explore, is lots of fun! Here's how it works:
- Each school year, FIRST will release a new "challenge." For example, in 2014 the challenge was named "Think Tank." Teams had to choose a learning tool, reinvent it, and build a model of it in its place of learning. The annual challenge runs worldwide. The Glastonbury Public Schools (GPS) program currently runs January through March.
- Coaches can use lesson plans and notebooks for these meetings, included in the team registration fee and distributed by FIRST. The lesson plans help coaches guide the kids to choose a name for their team, to choose a topic to learn more about, and to design a LEGO model to build.
- GPS provides specialized kits for teams to borrow for the season. Use LEGO to build your model, which must contain at least one moving part programmed with WeDo 2.0 or Spike Essentials (one or the other is provided).
- Design and create a trifold poster to present your ideas and details about your research and model.
- Celebrate everything you learned at an end-of-season Expo!
The Nitty Gritty
- Teams are comprised of six children in grades 2-4.
- Teams meet once a week for about eight weeks.
- Each team must have two adult volunteer coaches.
- Coaches must pass a background check (offered for free) by GPS.
- Some coaches must also pass a background check, also at no charge, through the FIRST website. (It depends on which teams we can cover through a season's pass vs. which teams we register individually.)
- Materials are lent to teams for the season and returned at the end of the Expo.
- All teams are encouraged to attend the Expo to show off their work!
- A participation fee of $40.00 covers expenses such as the annual FIRST registration fee, the challenge-specific "Explore Set," student and coach notebooks, presentation materials (scissors, glue, markers, pencils, trifolds, etc.), the storage bins, team T-shirts, replacement LEGO parts, replacement motors and battery packs, new batteries for the motors, the WeDo 2.0 or Spike Prime, and the Expo. For the Expo, medals, reviewer supplies and entertainment alone total about $2,000. We are able to keep the price so low due to support from the Glastonbury Board of Education and community donations, many made by Travelers and Raytheon thanks to Glastonbury coach volunteer hours.
FLL Explore project displayed at 2016 Expo. FLL Explore students learn about Glastonbury High School's robotics team and robot.