'Striking a pose' with Judge Advisor Tiffany Strickland at the recent NorCal East Bay District FLL Championship!

With the theme of food, getting into the spirit at this season’s FLL events can be as easy as pie (or a pretzel, depending on your taste…)
At the recent NorCal -East Bay District Championship (held in Newark, California) – the organizers, volunteers and participating teams did just that!

One of the Championship's referees goes over scores with the Sushi Samurai - who won the "Best Costume" Kids Choice Award!

Emcees wore fancy tuxedo aprons, the referees wore chef hats, and Judge Advisor – Tiffany Strickland – wore an authentic chef outfit!
Many of the participating teams sported food inspired outfits as well – from Sushi chefs to chicken hats!

Most people don’t realize that humor isn’t something we’re born with – it’s a learned quality and one that we can help  kids develop. Laughing together is a great way for people to connect, and by getting into the spirit we encourage others around us to get involved, as well as help them have more fun…

And, after all, isn’t that what this is all about?

Team Farm Fowl Robots - sporting their chicken hats!

“Don’t forget to Wash your hands!”

It’s a simple command your parents, teachers and others give you multiple times a day. However, do you really need to wash your hands so often, or are these adults just trying to find something to nag you about?

Let’s think about it for a moment.

Imagine all of the things you touch on a daily basis; toilets, pets, door handles and more. Each time you touch an object the germs living on that object are transferred to your body. When you touch another object you get another set of germs and transfer the germs from previous objects you touched onto the new object.

You are literally on a daily basis spreading thousands of germs around the space you live in.

But, it not just you helping to lead to the spread of these germs, everyone in the world is spreading this contaminants at a break neck pace.

That’s why it is important to wash your hands. In fact properly washing your hands only three times a day can kill 51 percent of cold and flu viruses.

So when should you wash your hands and how should you do it? Here is what the Center for Disease Control has to say on the matter.

When should you wash your hands?
• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal or animal waste
• After touching garbage

What is the right way to wash your hands?
• Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.
• Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
• Rinse your hands well under running water.
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

What if I don’t have soap and clean, running water?
Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs.

Hand sanitizers are not effective when hands are visibly dirty.

How do you use hand sanitizers?
• Apply the product to the palm of one hand.
• Rub your hands together.
• Rub the product over all surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.

By- Heidi Buck

After winning the Innovation Award for Climate Actions (Children’s Climate Call – Copenhagen, Denmark – 2009)… and having a prototype of their project built by SONY-Europe… AND having it sent to the University of Nevada-Reno for testing in Tahoe National Forest – the long since retired FLL Lego Guard team thought that their idea’s ‘winning’ days were through.
Not so!
In November of last year, the team was pleasantly surprised to learn that their Climate Connection Project (Forest Guard- an early wildfire detection system) – had won the National Energy Globe Award for USA.

The Energy Globe Award for Sustainability was started in 1999, and is considered to be one of the most prominent and prestigious environmental prizes. From all over the world, projects are showcased that conserve and protect  resources or that employ renewable energy. Each year, projects and initiatives from all over the world are submitted to compete for the award in the categories of: Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Youth. For last year’s Energy Globe Award, almost 1000 projects were submitted from 105 nations. Among those that fulfilled the demands of the Energy Globe jury, the best project from each nation was honored with a National Energy Globe Award.

Along with this award, Forest Guard was also honored with being one of the 3 nominees for the World Globe Award (Youth Category) – which was awarded to Zambia.

Morgan David, representing the Lego Guard team, at the Energy Globe Award ceremony - Wels, Austria, Nov. 26, 2011

Although none of the Lego Guard team members were able to attend the ceremony in Wels, Austria – fortunately,  Morgan David (Sony Europe’s Divisional Director of Research and Development) who led the development of the Forest Eye prototype, was able to attend and accept the award on behalf of the team.

Closing ceremony- Energy Globe Award

‘It was a true honour to see the Forest Guard project honoured alongside visionary projects such as ‘One Child One Solarlight’ from Ghana and the Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust from Zambia. Applying technology to help solve the problems of climate change is at the heart of Sony’s philosophy and the Forest Guard project was a brilliant opportunity to work with a group of visionary children to address the issue of forest fire detection,’ – Morgan David.

Way to go Lego Guards – Climate Connection team!

Your very proud coach -
Heidi :

It’s the time of year when many of us (mostly adults) reflect on the changes we want to make… and resolve to follow through on those changes. Most of these resolutions tend to be the same boring ones we make every year, and more often than not – never get completely resolved.
So, I got to wondering, if a FLL’er were to make a resolution- what would it be?

Here are some fun possibilities:

1. Put your robot on a diet
Take a long hard look at your robot  and apply the KISS rule (Keep It Super Simple) – a favorite term used by engineers. Get your robot ‘in shape’ by removing any unnecessary pieces and simplifying the design.

2. Clean out your LEGO box
Think about donating some of your unused pieces and parts to individuals or groups in your community who could benefit the most. In the past, our team   donated parts to newly formed FLL teams that didn’t have any school funding, and to our local Boys & Girls Clubs – making a lot of kids really happy!

3. Volunteer
Even if your team’s season is over, think about volunteering at an upcoming regional or district Championship. Volunteering at a FIRST event is a blast, and for those not quite adult or High School age – get your coach/parents to volunteer and tag along for a super-fun day of cheering on other local teams!

4. Help grow FIRST
Make it a goal this year to get someone you know who isn’t involved with FIRST – involved! It might be one of the ‘funnest’ things you do.

5. Practice random acts of Gracious Professionalsim
Even when you’re not around your team, or at a FIRST event, put your “GP” to work! Practice makes permanent.

Change a bulb, change the planet. The Seton Eagles FLL® team #39 is excited with the e-watt saver program. Seton Catholic Middle School FLL in Menasha WI is part of the Twin City Catholic Educational System. The team has been selling the e-watt bulbs since they were introduced. FIRST ® teaches Gracious Professionalism™ when competing in the FLL challenge and the e-watt saver program teaches us to be gracious professionals with our planet. By promoting the energy saving benefits our team has raised enough funds to purchase a laptop computer and the new NXT software.

The lights offer a real alternative to CFL’s and are a great improvement over regular incandescent bulbs. We have been promoting them through our school and have put them on display in our FIRST® award case outside the school office. Anyone visiting Seton can see the bulbs and learn about FIRST®. Additionally, our team uses the light bulbs as thank you gifts for meeting with our experts during the project phase. If we meet with a local person for the FLL project we send them a thank you and a bulb.

As a supporter of FIRST® as well as a local advocate for sustainability I am very proud to endorse the e-watt program. FLL has given teams a great tool to raise funds and allow the students to educate others in real energy saving ideas for the home. The e-watt program offers teams the flexibility to tailor program to the individual needs through flexible ordering and fast shipping. Join in the fun of the e-watt program and place an order for your team. It is a Bright Idea for FLL and FIRST®.

As 2011 comes to a close, FLL® Headquarters reflects on another record-breaking season. In 2011 we saw our community celebrate successes and learn from failures. Robots ran, projects were impactful and, above all, Gracious Professionalism™ was abundant. There were devastating and heartbreaking personal losses of which so many of our community around the world reached out to help where we could, and also momentous and joyous occasions for which to be thankful.

We want to wish the FLL community, our extended family, much happiness in 2012 and beyond. Thank you for enriching our lives and for being such an impactful presence on others.

All the best,
FIRST LEGO League Headquarters