Catalina Foothills Community Schools - Tucson, Arizona

CATALINA FOOTHILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT

2101 E. River Road | Tucson, AZ 85718
Phone: 520-209-7551 | Fax: 520-209-7575
Office Hours: 8:30am - 5:00pm
CARE: 520-209-7548

Travis Kolter
Director

Lego Robotics

2022-2023 FLL Challenge

It’s full speed ahead for the 2022-2023 Robotics Challenge: SUPERPOWERED!

This year, the teams are explored where energy comes from and how it is distributed, stored, and used. After then putting their superpowered creativity to work to innovate for a better energy future, teams investigated the essential role energy plays in keeping our world running in the three elements of the 2022-23 SUPERPOWERED Challenge by:

1. Designing, building and programming an autonomous robot to score points in the Robot Game

2. Creating an innovative solution to the challenge of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

3. Demonstrating FLL core values by helping each other, sharing ideas with others and embracing the spirit of friendly competition.

The teams have worked since August to design, build and program robots to accomplish the robotic missions in the international competition and the innovation project. Team members have put in many extra hours beyond their weekly after school scheduled time. Team members describe FLL as "the hardest fun they will ever have?"!

There were 6 teams this year with middle school and elementary schjool students. Some high school students who are FLL alumni volunteered their time to be mentors. Here are the results of the regional tournament with 4 of our teams advancing to the AZ State Championship. Congratulations to all of teams, coaches and volunteers!

FLL 22-23 TEAMS_Page_1.jpg FLL 22-23 TEAMS_Page_2.jpg FLL 22-23 TEAMS_Page_3.jpg

STATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS:

Congratulations to all of our teams who qualified for the FIRST Lego League state championship held at Arizona State University on Saturday, January 14.
Two of our teams were recognized with special awards.

The Grocery Gurus won the Engineering Excellence Award and 3rd place award for Robot Performance. The Team members:

OG Madison Chiem, Audrey Dessent, Braeden Gracy, Warren Moore, Sarah Orr and Nathan Wu, plus EC student Ben Wild.

The Rechargeables won second place in Robot Design. Team members: OG students Esteban Aguirre, Sophia Barrios, Ali Lucas, Matthew Meislin, Lily Ruiz, and Aiden Zhou, plus EC student Jolie Wung.

Four CFSD alumni were invited to serve as judges at State: Sean Bergan '19, Andy Liaupsin '19, Michael Gross '19, and Josh Tint '21.

What is FIRST Lego League

FIRST Lego League (FLL) introduces young people (grades 4-8), to the fun and excitement of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It is designed for students do the research and problem solving, which are integral parts of each element of STEM, to meet the yearly Challenge. Students identify a problem and develop an innovative solution.

There are three elements that make up the Challenge: 1. programming an autonomous robot (the Robot Game), 2. creating innovative solutions to a problem (the Project) 3. following the FLL Core Values where the children learn that helping one another and the spirit of friendly competition is the foundation of teamwork.

Each year’s Challenge is similar to real challenges faced by scientists and engineers, which leads to an understanding of the work of these professionals and an exposure to career options. The Project gives the teams the opportunity to more deeply explore the theme of the Challenge and propose a solution to a problem they select.

The teams present their projects for feedback from the judges, who often are experts in the Challenge field. FIRST Lego League imparts valuable life skills and excitement about how our students can make a difference in the world.

FIRST Lego League in CFSD

In Catalina Foothills School District, students who participate in FIRST Lego League (FLL) are afforded unique experiences involving a team approach to engineering, programming, problem solving, and research. FLL equips students with tools to be successful in a rapidly-evolving world. FLL presents students with real-world situations and challenges in which they develop their abilities to think critically, apply knowledge at high levels and use technology to access, evaluate and communicate information.
Led by Charlotte Ackerman, CFSD’s Teacher Leader for Science and Engineering, FLL team members work together over a 14-week session to address the current FLL mission and prepare for competition in December.

FIRST Lego League Lite
In the spring months, students who have an interest in participating as an FLL team member in the following school year are encouraged to join FLL Lite. This enrichment experience gives students the opportunity to get a taste of FLL without making the commitment to the full 14-week program. They get to try the current school year’s FLL mission and build their skills for future competitions without actually stepping into the arena of competing.