Welcome to STARS (Science, Technology, and Robotics Studies), the world’s foremost (fictional) space exploration company! We are hiring young minds to be our scientists and help pave the way through the universe- join our team to explore a planet autonomously, collect rare metals to be transported back to earth, save the Curiosity Rover, and explore the stars!
WHAT IS STARS?
STARS is an introductory FLL curriculum developed by Charger Robotics, which allows any adult to start a FIRST Lego League team in their community.
STARS introduces kids to the field of STEM in a fun and interactive way, through the use of LEGO EV3 kits. These kits allow children to quickly build and experiment with robots, using basic coding skills and motors to create complex mechanisms that work together to accomplish small tasks.
The tasks scale in difficulty as the kids progress through the program, keeping students on their toes and everyone engaged at all times.
WHAT DOES STARS CONTAIN?
20
Comprehensive Lessons
25
Engaging Activities
Guided Worksheets,
Teacher Presentations,
and More!
SCIENTISTS ARE GUIDED THROUGH FOUR LEVELS OF ACTIVITIES...
1.0
LEARNING
Learn the basics of EV3 Programming through saving the Perseverance Rover, and more!
2.0
MODERATE
Discover grabbers, launchers, and more through adventures on Murcury!
3.0
ADVANCED
Tackle complex programming and robotics challenges through work on a remote asteroid!
4.0
EXTRA
Embrace some extra fun with activities like Sumo Robots or a Space Themed Dance Competition!
EACH ACTIVITY CONTAINS...
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An Exciting Misson Statement
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Mission Goal and Rules/Guidlines
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Allowed Sensors, Materials, and Programming Blocks
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Sample Feild Set-up Diagram
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Sample Solution Code
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Tips & Tricks
EACH ACTIVITY IS PAIRED WITH A GUIDED WORKSHEET...
These worksheets serve to spark ideas within the kids for their challenge. Worksheets are left fairly open-ended to encourage brainstorming and creativity, while also placing students on a path for success for each activity. Some of the idea sparkers aren’t so much questions as they are recommendations, such as suggesting that students look at how a task is accomplished in nature.
HOW DOES STARS MAKE AN IMPACT?
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Our overall goal for STARS is to introduce kids to STEM at a young age and to create a long-lasting impact on each and every student. We aim for all who participate in STARS to come out of the program with a new passion for STEM, and to consider it as a possible future career field. Many of our members felt as though our STEM education in elementary school was lacking: STARS is designed to remedy these issues for future generations. The activities give kids an idea of what the STEM field is like, prior to high school, and allows kids to decide whether or not they enjoy the field at a much earlier age than most classroom curricula allow.
STARS also acts as a foundation to begin an FLL club or team at any school, using the same materials, technology, and skills that are developed in STARS
Online Publishing: We’re looking to further expand the reach of STARS by making it available for free outside of our website. Currently, we’re working on publishing the entire program on Google Books, Apple Books, and Amazon.
Video Introductions: As for content, we plan on expanding on STARS by creating a series of videos to introduce each activity, in order to engage and excite kids before each lesson.
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Utilizing Feedback: With the completion of the first edition of STARS, we’re now working with teachers in our school district to gather feedback on the program. By using teacher feedback, we gain a better understanding of how useful STARS is to real-world educators who might use it in their classroom. Additionally, we’re gathering feedback from other FRC teams, in order to make STARS more useful for teams looking to expand their outreach program. This feedback is all being used to make the next version of STARS better.
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Curriculum Expansion: Over time, we intend to release more lessons and activities to expand the program, building more complex skills that students use in FLL and increasing the foundation of FLL Core Values.
Translation: As STARS continues to improve and be distributed, we’re looking to further increase the global reach of the program through translation into other languages, starting with Spanish.
