Coaching a FIRST LEGO League Challenge Team on the Innovation Project

Why does FIRST LEGO League Challenge include an Innovation Project?

• Tie the annual theme to the real world
• 21st Century Skills are critical to the children’s future
  • Critical thinking
  • Working as a team leveraging each others’ knowledge and skills
  • Engineering and technology skills
  • Connection to careers
  • Addressing critical challenges
• Classroom instruction usually focuses on scientific method or provides the problem to be solved.
• Gives the kids the opportunity to define a problem they care about and try to solve it.

Famous FIRST LEGO League Innovative Solutions

• 3D printed hands for children
• Washable barcodes for produce to make sure food is fresh
• Baby temperature monitor for car seats
• Smart cane for visually impaired, using an ultrasonic sensor
• Easy grip spoon for seniors and individuals with diseases like Parkinson’s
• Cigarette butt legislation in Washington state

Scientific Method versus Engineering Method

Scientific method is often

• State a hypothesis
• Design an experiment
• Collect data
• Analyze data
• Make a conclusion
• Identify future research
• Publish

Engineering method is usually

• Identify a problem
• Research and analyze existing solutions
• Identify possible improvements or new solutions
• Develop prototype(s)
• Pick a solution
• Get feedback
• Refine the solution
• Communicate and deploy

Engineering Design Process

Identify a Problem

• Consider annual theme and the constraints it places on possible problems to consider.
• Start with answering the sample questions from the challenge manual.
• Encourage personal interactions with the theme.
• If you already know an expert, what are they working on?
• What are local universities doing in the area of the theme?
• Consider anything your team already knows, or is already interested in with regards to the theme.

Research: “Dive Deep”

• What is already being done to address the problem – why aren’t they working?
• Has someone solved a similar problem, will that solution work in this case?
• Are there solutions, but they aren’t being used? Why? How could you change that?
• What is being developed, but isn’t finished yet?
• Can you help or suggest changes based on your research?
• Is there a group that is excluded by existing solutions, can you help them to be included?
• Keep track of sources and give credit.
• Experts can be consulted during this step and later.

Design a Solution

• How does the solution solve the problem?
• What about it is new and different?
• Why was it not being done already?
• How much does it cost? For who?
• If your solution already exists, why does the problem still exist? Can you design a solution to THAT problem?
• Solutions can be physical, social, legislative, or virtual – what works best for your problem? Why?
• Can your solution be made at this time?
• What other technology is needed to do this?
  • Note: Star Trek style solutions are still welcome, but they are a tough sell with Oregon judges. You need to know your stuff!

Example from a previous season when them was reduce, reuse, recycle

• Solution: Turn plastic bags into rope – by twisting bags together we can make a very strong rope. We already have rope twisting technology we just need to collect and twist the bags. We tested our rope to show how it is stronger than other ropes.
• Solution: Pass legislation to ban the use of one-time use plastic bags being given away at stores. This prevents plastic bags from entering the environment and becoming a problem. We know this works because it is done in several other places.
• Solution: Park plastic bag collection bins. Make it easier for people to recycle plastic bags, by placing secure slender bins in parks and putting in place a volunteer program to collect the bags weekly to be taken to a local recycling facility. The team observed people threw bags in loose trash cans if a recycling option was a farther walk.

Research and Share

• In your research your team should learn
• who else is working on this problem, or
• who is in a position to use your solution.
• Your experts will have opinions and knowledge.
• Listen to their criticism and be prepared to think critically about your solution given their feedback.
• Do you need to make changes?
• How would you address a similar criticism in the future?
• Remember the basics of a journal article:
• Who, What, Where, Why, and How?
• You should know all of this for your solution.
• What would your solution cost?
• A good solution with a high cost needs to be justified.
• Especially as to why it is better than a lower cost solution.

Fact from Fiction

• There are lots of ideas on the internet, in books, and with our experts.
• It is important to be able to tell
  • what is opinion,
  • what is a fact, and
  • what is fiction.
• Encourage team to use their critical thinking

Test Your Idea

• When possible create a prototype and test it!
• If you can’t do build a prototype, can you
• use someone else’s prototype or research results?
• can someone advise you on how your idea could be implemented and what the challenges be and how much it would cost?
• draw your idea and how it would work?
• build a model out of cardboard, wood or something else?
• explain how it would work and what the challenges would be?
• How many people have done experiments that show your solution would work or at least address the problem?
• Is the information from multiple trusted sources?
• Your expert is great, but they are still only one person.
• Do their scientific peers agree?
• Is it published in a peer-reviewed journal?
• Is it on Wikipedia?
• Is it in the Onion?
• Does it sound too good to be true?
• Why hasn’t anyone else discovered this?

What is Innovative?

• Something completely new
• Using an existing solution in a new way – BE CAREFUL – the judges need to see how this is a new way too!
• Improving something that already exists
• Improving access to or awareness of an existing solution
• Making an existing solution easier to use.

Styrofoam to Glue for School

• Existing Solution:
• Orange Oil dissolves Styrofoam and turns it into glue.
• The team learned this in their online research and tested it in their home.
• They even tested the strength of the glue.
• Possible Innovative Solution: Create
• a mixing device for making the glue; and
• an app so that people
• can find schools that own the mixing devices and
• are collecting Styrofoam to make their own glue for schools.
• Alternative: Adjusting the proportions or formula to make the glue perform better in certain circumstances. There will often be trade offs.

Contacting professionals is important

• Opportunity for kids to interact with adults
• On site visits are best when possible
• Kids realize the impact and importance and relevance of local engineering.
• Opportunity to introduce FLL to the professional community

Developing your presentation

• Can be any format that covers all the criteria
• Can be
• Formal presentation
• Skit
• Anything criteria
• Avoid using technology that distracts from your idea and the word you did
• Make it personal
• Whole team should participate
• See YouTube for example
  • Project presentation from a past season
• Practice, practice, practice with a live audience if possible
• Again: Cover all the aspects of the rubric

Sharing your work

• At your school is good but consider also
• Sharing with experts
• Those that could put it into practice
• Those that could benefit
• Gather feedback to make improvements this season or later for a future version

Things to Keep in Mind

• Don’t get so attached to working the project that it becomes more your project than the team’s project
• Kids need to do the work
• Write letters/email to the technical experts
• Develop their skit
• Assemble their poster – not just create the content
• Take pictures for posters
• Come up with the problem & solution

Additional Things To Keep in Mind

• Important to have an accurate and correct understanding of the challenge. What is considered a problem allowed by the challenge.
• Kids will initially think of problems they have been studying in school – like global warming, and solve something outside the scope of the challenge.
• Kids (like many adults) have a tendency to jump to solution space, without a clear and understood problem statement

Judging

• You can do everything we have mentioned and still not do well.
• Especially if you don’t share the right information with the judges.
• Consider the rubric carefully.

Cover all the criteria on the rubric!

• Clearly defined problem
• Well researched
• Generated innovative ideas
• Selected and planned one to develop
• Developed original idea or built on an existing one
• Prototype or drawing
• Share the ideas with experts and/or public
• Collect feedback
• Include improvements

You have 5 minutes to creatively share all of this in a memorable way!