Sixth Session: Tue 9/30
Notes from Session Five
- Several sources have been found for continuing research, but as of yet, a specific problem and solutions have not been identified.
- Two base robot designs were made, one original and one LEGO®-provided model, but they were unable to decide which to use.
- Another group worked on identifying which mission challenges they want to tackle first and on mechanisms to solve them.
Homework Assigned:
- Focus on innovation project. The team needs to identify a specific problem and start working on their ideas for solutions.
Sixth Session Plan
- Base Robot needs to be finalized so they can begin designing and coding solutions.
- Team needs to choose a particular problem to solve.
Coach Notes
While we're moving slower than I hoped for, the kids are learning some valuable lessons by experience. The group assigned to design our base robot immediately split into two groups which each built their own idea, and the entire group was unable or unwilling to pick one over the other, either by vote or by analysis. The research problem they chose (archaeology in permafrost) is interesting, and they're finding resources around that topic, but they haven't picked a sufficiently specific problem to solve.
I anticipate a lot of concepts will not make sense to them until we've been through a competition. I'm trying to coach them and not just tell them what to do, but it's hard for kids to learn, let alone play, soccer well if they've never seen a game. Hopefully, whatever their eventual level of preparation this year, we'll have fun regardless, and next year, having experienced the whole process, they'll take less time to narrow down and select essential starting decisions.
Finally, I requested a qualifier on the second weekend so we can attend a qualifier on the first weekend as observers. Hopefully that will make our first competition less scary and more exciting. Registration was only $80 for the team. The only expenses remaining, I think, will be team T-shirts, and whatever materials we need for our presentations.