Volunteer Overview

2011

©2010 The United States Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST®) and the LEGO Group. Used by special permission. All rights reserved.

FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) is the result of an exciting alliance between FIRST and The LEGO Group. Official FLL Operational Partners are permitted to make reproductions for immediate judging and Operational Partner use only. Any use, reproduction, or duplication for purposes other than directly by the immediate FLL Operational Partner as part of FLL participation is strictly prohibited without specific written permission from FIRST and the LEGO Group.

The FIRST LEGO League name and logo are trademarks of FIRST and the LEGO Group.

Intro to FIRST and FLL• What is FLL?• Gracious

Professionalism®

• FLL Core Values

What is an FLL Tournament?

Preparing to Judge• What to Expect• What Information You

Need to Know

Types of Judging• Teamwork• Robot Design• Project

Judging Process• Team Evaluation• Awards Deliberations

FLL Judge Training

FIRST Vision

Dean Kamen, FIRST Founder

“To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes.”

FIRST and FLL Mission

The mission of FIRST and FIRST LEGO League is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication and leadership.

What is FLL?

Helps children, ages 9 to 14, discover the fun in science and technology while building self-confidence, knowledge and life skills

“I want to build things nobody else has even thought of yet.”Charles Peterson, FLL Team Member (10 years old)

What Is FLL?

PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVITY

• Present kids with a real-world problem

• New scientific theme each yearTEAMS OF STUDENTS AND

MENTORS• Work as a team• Learn with adults and mentorsDO IT ALL IN 8 WEEKS• Building, programming, testing,

investigating solutions• Competing with peers in high-

energy tournaments• Presenting solutions to a real-

world problem to a panel of judges

How It Works

What Is FLL?

2011 Season Projections • 19,800 teams• 198,000 middle-school

students• More than 50 countries• 117 Championship

Tournaments• 560 Qualifying Tournaments

FLL Impact Globally

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

Outside U.S. & Canada

U.S. & Canada

Central Texas FLL

2011 Season Projections • 150 teams• 6 Qualifying

Tournaments• Championship on

January 21st at Westlake High School

FLL Philosophy

• Everyone is a winner• FIRST LEGO League is

designed to be a celebration of achievement

• Judges learn from participants

• Mentors learn from teams• Students leave wanting

more• It's not about building

robots; it's about robots building people

Gracious Professionalism®

Dr. Woodie Flowers, FIRST National Advisor

• Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST

• It's a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community

• Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process

FLL Core Values

We are a team.

We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.

We honor the spirit of friendly competition.

What we discover is more important than what we win.

We share our experiences with others.

We display Gracious Professionalism in everything we do.

We have fun.

Welcome and Thank You!

• Without volunteers like you staffing the events, Central Texas FLL wouldn’t be able to exist

• Thank you for dedicating your time and energy to the students