Let's start BOOK WEEK off with a BANG!I know most of you have heard of Legos but are you aware that there is a FIRST LEGO League? Yeah, and it is COOL!! It's a kind of geek Olympics for about 100,000 kids every year—a sporting event and science fair in one.
The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is a competition for students 9-14 in US and Canada They participate in a global competition that encourages invention and teamwork. Using the skills of the team you build a robot of Lego parts to carry out predefined tasks. But it can be tricky to create and successfully manage a FLL team. This is not meant to be a simple competition, and fielding a team requires some serious management and plenty of work.
Here is What I Found:
James Floyd Kelly and Jonathan Daudelin have written FIRST LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide. It is a complete guide to the FIRST LEGO League competition. It was released just this past August.
Kelly and Daudelin are both veteran FLL competitors, FIRST LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide is an all-in-one reference for FLL participants, from rookie coaches trying to organize new teams to veteran teams hoping for their next trophy.
"I was fortunate enough to attend the 2008 FIRST LEGO League championship in Atlanta, Georgia, and the energy surrounding the event was infectious," said No Starch Press Publisher Bill Pollock. "Anyone can start a FIRST LEGO League team, but it can be confusing to navigate the rules and procedures that govern the competition. I hope that this guide to FLL will make it a whole lot easier for people to launch their own teams."
This is a book that tells you everything you need to know to enter the 1st Lego League competitions - how to create a team, how to fund raise, how the competition works, what the judging is based on, how the kits work, what kid would be better for what circumstances. It truly gives great insight to every aspect of the competition.
Reading it got both me and my husband (a former Middle School teacher) excited and enthused. How Brett would have loved to have done this with his students!
What I Didn't Like:
This book was so well written that there was nothing to not like about it. It was a completely enjoyable read.
What I Say:
We really do not know how you would field a team without this book...it is overwhelming even with the book. Doing it without? Well, I cannot imagine doing it without.
I would most certainly recommended both this competition and book to teachers, homeschoolers and or parents who want to start a team and encourage innovation and camaraderie in their kids. You really won;t be disappointed!!
The book retails for $29.95 and can be found online at places like Amazon and O'Reilly.
The great guys over at NoStarch Press have generously provided a copy for YOU!
Here's the GIVEAWAY scoop:
The Prize: A copy of FIRST LEGO League: The Unofficial Guide by James Floyd Kelly and Jonathan Daudelin.
How You Can Win:
Visit FIRST LEGO League and look around. Come back and leave a post listing 2 of the sponsors as well as who you have in mind to participate in FFL. That's it!
Would like to up the odds of winning?
To earn more entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra entry. Please leave a separate comment for each one.
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This giveaway is open to US addresses only. Good luck!
Who is eligible:
You must have a US mailing address. You don't have to be a blogger to win, just supply a valid e-mail address. Make sure to leave me that email address though because if I cannot get a hold of you, you cannot win!
When the giveaway ends:The giveaway will run now throughOctober 7th at 11:59pm CST. I'll pick the winner using Random.org as soon as possible after that. You may choose to check for your nickname at Prizey.Fetch, a cool site that compiles winners in one convenient place:
Bonne Chance!!
5 comments:
Hello, Two of their sponsors are
"Rockwell Automation" and 3M!" My son used to be the Lego Maniac. Thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I am subscribed to your feed via my Yahoo Reader! Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
National Instruments and 3M look like sponsors for this cool battle! I would love to get this book for my very techno son!
ajcmeyer AT go DOT com
The boys would love this book,building robots is up running along. Count me in
matternu@aol.com
Two sponsers are Vestas and 3M. Forgot it in my first post.
Thanks for the great giveaway for my sons
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