We got there and put some finishing touches on the poster and the moon base. (The kids kept touching it all morning...I kept telling them to stop, but they just couldn't help themselves.)
This was our poster. I was rather afraid it was lacking in content, but it was about the same as most of the other groups' posters. Under it is our moon base. It is mostly a greenhouse, with a workroom and kitchen/sleeping/game room. There is a close up of a hydroponic system and a bunch of solar panels. While the adults did do a significant amount of the poster, the kids did the moon base...they really all of it themselves with a bit of adult directing. I think that might be a bit odd, as one of the leaders was asked how long they were up the previous night finishing the model.
Therefore, the kids really could talk about the model well. They did have note cards, but if asked questions they could answer them easily. And they were able to point out the different parts...they knew the model well.
The group. (Sidebar: I think we were the only school to have a racially diverse group. I was a bit surprised, but perhaps it is reflective of the student populations?? It was one reason we chose Eagle Crest though.)
We brought some extra Legos in case of emergency. The emergency ended up being bored kids, and we were so glad to have brought them! It entertained them many times.
Isaac presenting.
Isaac was in charge of one of the solar panels. It was motorized, so he was also in charge of the program that motorized it. We had made a nice and simple program...it did two small jogs and then rotated around to the beginning to symbolize one day/night cycle and then it did it again. He could tell all about the program and how it worked. I was proud of him.
It was very loud in here. I guess two years ago there were only four teams in a carpeted room...hopefully next year they can change some things up so that only the team(s) presenting are in the room.
Ben and Joshua came to look for a bit and then looked at the robots for the older Lego League.
After presenting (three times) they made a moon craft.
And they had a team building activity. Here they're just playing with a ball, waiting to get in. But the activity was that they had to do a 34 pc puzzle, and once they touched a piece no one else could touch it. The moderator said that we were the biggest group (you're supposed to have a max of six kids), but our group was one of the best listeners, obeyed the rules, had a leader and co-leader but the leaders didn't take control, laughed/made jokes while working to lighten the mood, and did a good job of including everyone. I was very proud of them.
Isaac is sad that Lego League is finished and wants to do it again next year! (I was on the fence. Some of the lessons were good, but there were a few at the end that weren't so good. If I'm a head coach again next year I might try to spread things out a bit so that we're not just making a poster on the last day. However, this was a nice ending.)
