Information NIGHT
First Lego League (FLL), Odyssey of the Mind,
Geography Bee, Science Olympiad.
October 15th, 2015
Courtesy: Bull Run PTA
Lego League
What is the Lego League?
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The FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) is a program of
exploration for 9 to 14 year olds, which is
designed to get children excited about science
and technology – while teaching them valuable
employment and life skills. FLL can be used in a
classroom setting but is not solely designed for
this purpose. Teams, comprised of up to ten
children, with at least one adult coach, can also be
associated with a pre-existing club or
organization, or just be a group of friends who
wish to do something awesome
Lego League
The Children
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Your FLL team will have up to ten children, between the ages of 9 and 14.
To be eligible, a child cannot be older than 14 on January 1st of the year
the Challenge is announced.
The Coach
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FLL encourages fresh thinking. Let your team celebrate its own style and
do what makes sense for you. With that said, we expect coaches to follow
certain guidelines. As much as you might like to build it, the team of
students must design and build the robot, not you or any other adult. If you
find yourself pushing a solution, you’re doing your team a disservice. Not
only are children not thinking for themselves, but you may also suppress a
revolutionary idea. Additionally, a coach or mentor doing the work sends
the children the message that they are not capable of doing it themselves.
FLL defines children doing the work as children making all critical decisions
in the robot-building, programming, the Project development, and
presentation.
Lego League
We are welcoming new coaches. Any
parents wishing to be a coach will have
access to robots, a meeting place.
 New Robot/Parts can be ordered via PTA
and Club fees.
 For official FLL competition, it maybe late
to start especially if it’s a rookie team but
they can be on Non-competition team
and participate in FLL in the following
year.
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Lego League
To find out more about the Bull Run Lego
Mindstorms Team and signing up as a coach,
please email [email protected]
 To learn more about the Lego Mindstorms
Program, please view the
 link: http://www.vadcfll.org/registrationFAQ.h
tml. Interested coaches should read the
coach's handbook, available online,
at http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/t
eamresources
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Odyssey of the mind
Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving
competition for students of all ages. Teams of students select
a problem, create a solution, then present their solution in a
competition against other teams in the same problem and
division.
 The Odyssey of the Mind program is based on the premise
that creativity can be taught. Can you think of anyone who
fits any of these descriptions . . . the talented student that is
“naturally” creative; the student whose talents require
nurturing; the student who does not think of herself as
creative, but feels she is “different” than her peers; or the
student with untapped potential but no outlet for it to
thrive? Odyssey of the Mind provides that outlet in an
environment where almost every type of student will thrive.
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Odyssey of the mind
Coaching an Odyssey of the Mind Team
 In OotM the coach plays a limited, but important, role.
Each Odyssey of the Mind team must have at least one adult,
18 years of age or older, registered as its head coach. Having an
assistant coach will lessen the demands assumed by one person.
OotM does not assign coaches. The coach of a team is determined
by the membership organization.
Who Can Coach?
 Coaches come from all professions and from all walks of life.
Although teams must have the support of the member school or
organization, coaches do not have to be teachers. Frequently, a
child’s involvement in the program will generate the interest of the
parents. Oftentimes, parents will start the Odyssey of the Mind
program in their child’s school and assume a coaching role as a way
to get involved in their child’s education
Odyssey of the mind
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For future engineers, writers, actors, scientists, project managers, you
name it…
In Odyssey of the Mind, students . . .
Turn over for this year’s problem list
Solve problems from building mechanical devices, to performing their own
interpretation of classics, to solving on-the-spot challenges. (Remember the
famous MIT 12-foot egg drop?) Work together in teams of up to seven
people from October to March.
Examine problems without limiting possible solutions.
The creative process rewards thinking “outside the box.”
Express ideas and suggestions without fear of criticism.
Do it ALL themselves. Adult coaches guide but don’t control.
Have lots of fun … and do even better in school.
Present their long-term problem “solutions” in an eight-minute skit, and
tackle a previously unknown spontaneous problem, at regional, state, and
world tournaments.
Visit www.novasouth.org or www.odysseyofthemind.com for more info and this
year’ problems
Odyssey of the mind
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*****Bull Run ES Odyssey of the Mind Program Details*****
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In early October the school coordinator will collect names of students interested, and coaches interested, and
assist in forming teams, with 5-7 students per team. Odyssey Competition for Region 12 in Virginia (that’s us!)
will be on Saturday, March 19, 2016 at Brentsville HS, Nokesville, VA. Be prepared to spend the entire day 8a-7p
at the competition. If you are not available on that day, you will not be able to join an Odyssey team.
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If you want your child to participate in Odyssey, you the parent must also participate. Every team MUST
supply their own coach. Every team must ALSO supply a judge (parent or teacher) for the entire day of the
competition and a parent volunteer for a 2-hour shift at the competition. There are also other support roles
so that ALL parents of the team are involved. Coaching takes roughly 3 hours per week. Coaches should be
identified by mid-October. Coaches Training: Saturday, November 14th, 2015, Liberty Middle School, 8:30 AM to
2:30 PM. While it is optional, I recommend it for 1st time coaches.
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Time commitment: the meeting place, date and time for your team can be set by the members of the team. I
would suggest three 2- hour organizational meetings before Jan 1st. Starting Jan 1st, you should meet weekly for
2 hours. Expect to meet 2-3 times per week the last two weeks before the competition.
Cost: BRES PTA pays for the school-wide registration. In addition, each team must pay $75 for the regional
competition, and this will be split among the team members. Team members must split the cost of all materials
used for their problem (no more than $125 or $145 (depending on problem)/team, usually much less).
WE ARE LOOKING FOR ODYSSEY OF THE MIND COORDINATOR.
The National Geographic Bee
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Each year thousands of schools in the United
States participate in the National
Geographic Bee using materials prepared by
the National Geographic Society. The
contest is designed to encourage teachers to
include geography in their classrooms, spark
student interest in the subject, and increase
public awareness about geography. Schools
with students in grades four through eight
are eligible for this entertaining and
challenging test of geographic knowledge.
National Geographic Bee
Schools who register will be sent the contest
materials packet in mid-November. The packet
contains everything a school needs to participate in
the competition including an instruction booklet with
suggested procedures, question booklet, a medal to
present to the one school winner, and the qualifying
test that must be administered to the school winner.
 In early March the teacher who signed the qualifying
test is notified by mail if the school Bee winner
qualified to represent his or her school at the state
level. The top 100 students (selected based on
qualifying test scores) qualify to represent their
schools and compete at the state level.
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National Geographic Bee
State qualifiers compete in an oral competition at
the state level, which is usually held in late March
or early April.
 State winners are invited to National
Geographic headquarters in late May to compete
in the national finals for scholarships in the
amount of U.S. $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000.
 We are looking for a coach and a coordinator for
Geography Bee Club. A school
Teacher/Administrator will be the official point of
contact.
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Science Olympiad
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Science Olympiad Goals
To create a passion for learning science by supporting elementary and
secondary Science Olympiad tournaments at building, district, county, state
and national levels with an emphasis on teamwork and a commitment to
excellence.
To improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation by
changing the way science is perceived and the way it is taught (with an
emphasis on problem solving and hands-on, minds-on constructivist
learning practices). This goal is accomplished through in-depth core
curriculum training workshops and the distribution of curriculum
materials.
To celebrate and recognize the outstanding achievement of both students
and teachers in the areas of science and technology by awarding thousand
of certificates, medals, trophies and scholarships.
To promote partnerships among community, businesses, industry,
government and education.
DIVISION B COACH: Dr. Yukti Sharma
DIVISION A COACH: TBD
Science Olympiad
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Science Olympiad is a school-based program
for students from third grade through their
senior year in high school. It offers students
the opportunity to improve their
understanding in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) and to
work together in teams to learn new skills.
Virginia Science Olympiad (VASO) is a nonprofit organization engaging and challenging
students in these disciplines through teambased competitive tournaments in Virginia.
Science Olympiad
TEAM COMPOSITION:
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A Science Olympiad team consists of up to 15 students, representing a
single school. A team may have alternates, but only a maximum of 15
students may compete in the scoring events on tournament day. Alternates
may compete in any trial events offered at tournaments.
VASO organizes two Science Olympiad divisions: Division B (grades 6-9);
and Division C (grades 9-12). (The elementary school Division A
tournament is organized by a separate Division A group.) No more than
seven 12th grade students are allowed on a 15 member Division C team,
and no more than five 9th grade students are allowed on a 15 member
Division B team.
VASO allows 5th graders to compete on Division B teams, but advises
coaches to consider their inclusion carefully in light of the Parent
Participation policy prohibiting anyone other than team members from
doing ANY construction on competition devices. No provision will be
made for the younger age of 5th grade participants. We recommend that
5th graders consider participating in Division A (3rd - 5th grade), which is
a very fine introduction to Science Olympiad.
Science Olympiad- Division A
What is Division A?
 It is a sister organization to the Virginia
Science Olympiad (VASO)
 We organize tournaments for elementary
school students in grades 3-5
 This is an introduction to middle school
(Division B) and high-school (Division C)
Science Olympiad programs
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Science Olympiad
VASO requires a teacher or school staff member employed at the school
as VASO's primary point of contact for the school's Science Olympiad
program.
 The VASO board believes strongly that, to ensure fairness and efficiency of
the process, important communications prior to and during tournaments
should be between VASO designees and the primary school point of
contact, a teacher or staff member. Flexibility is required for teams of
home schooled students; however, a single primary point of contact is still
required.
 There may still be instances in which parents or outside volunteers do
much of the coaching of the team or teams. Additional team coaches may
ask to be included in the email distributions from VASO to the schoolbased sponsor or coach, but responsibility for communication across
teams when a school has multiple teams remains with the school-based
sponsor or coach.
 http://www.virginiaso.com/pdf/2012_VA_Division_A_Tournament_Rules_
Manual.pdf
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http://www.virginiaso.com/pdf/EventTable2013.pdf
Science Olympiad
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School Team Structure
• A team is defined as a group of students residing within the same school attendance
zone and from the same school.
• Teams may not be comprised of students from different schools that attend the same
after school activity.
• A team may be any number of students up to a total of 42 students. (Teams may further
break this larger team into smaller groups as they like.)
• Students in grades 3-5 are eligible to participate in division A. Smaller groups within a
team may be mixed with some students from each grade level, or they may be based on
grade level with students all coming from the same grade level.
• Students in grade 5 may choose to participate in either Division A or
Division B. They may NOT compete in both Divisions.
School Team Registration Fees
• Teams, regardless of size, will pay a minimum team entry fee minimum of $150.00. For
teams of more than 14 students the fee is $10.00 per student up to 42 students.
• Schools that are Title 1 or have at least 33.3% have their population receiving free or
reduced lunch receive a 25% discount on their registration fees.
SPECIAL REQUEST
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WE NEED COACHES AND ASSISTANT
COACHES FOR LEGO LEAGUE, OM, AND
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD.
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PLEASE SUPPORT THESE GREAT
ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS.
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WE WILL TRY TO ACCOMMODATE THE
SCHEDULES BASED ON YOUR AVAILABILITY..
Thank you for coming.