Team Blast: Dive into SUBMERGED SPIKE Essential Lessons

Hi ,

Coming to you from FIRST^® LEGO^® League HQ in Manchester, NH, USA.

Our office will be closing at 3:00 p.m. today, and will be closed on Monday, October 14. Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, October 15.

Did you recently register your team? Welcome! Catch up on previous emails here.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Curiosity is probably one of the most important characteristics that people have who go into science, and engineering is about solving problems and creativity.”

-Ellen Ochoa, Engineer/Astronaut

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

Dive into the SUBMERGED^SM LEGO^®Education SPIKE^TM Essential Lessons: As you are working through the sessions in the Engineering Notebook with your team, don’t forget to utilize the three (3) lessons in the SPIKE Essential App as a helpful tool to lay the foundational elements for coding. Having trouble accessing the lessons in the app? Make sure to complete the update for the FIRST^®LEGO^®League Explore Unit.

Just diving into your season? Check out the SUBMERGED^SM Welcome Video for details about what to expect.

OceanX Education Q&A Sessions: Last month, Dr. AnnMarie Thomas answered questions from FIRST LEGO League teams around the world aboard the OceanXplorer ship. Check out our latest blog for recordings from the sessions, which included tours of some areas on the ship.

Update Your Coach/Mentor Roster: Each season, it's recommended that you review the additional coaches and mentors on your team to ensure your roster is updated for the new season. You can add or remove these individuals from your roster by clicking the "Contact Options" under the "Team Contacts/Roster" section of your team's Dashboard.

If an additional coach/mentor participates in 30% or more of the team activities, or is regularly involved with the team, we recommend these individuals complete a FIRST^®Youth Protection Screening. Your Program Delivery Partner may have other requirements including additional background checks and training required by law in your jurisdiction. Either lead coach can request the individual completes the screening process through their FIRST account. Read more about the Youth Protection Program and share the Youth Protection Training Videos with all of your coaches and mentors.

Register Youth Team Members: The parent or guardian of every youth team member is required to complete the FIRST youth registration process for their participant before they may participate in any organized team activities. This electronic process must be completed prior to the student attending any team meetings or any FIRST events or competitions. For more information and instructions on how to complete the online youth team member registration process, visit the Youth Registration System Overview.

Express Enrollment: Coaches and mentors in the United States and Canada with completed FIRST Youth Protection Screenings can take advantage of Express Enrollment, which provides a simplified experience on mobile and desktop to register and accept youth to FIRST teams. View Express Enrollment Coach/Mentor Instructions and the Express Enrollment Parent/Guardian Instructions. Have questions? Check out our FAQ or contact FIRST Support.

Celebrating FIRST Educators and Schools: Here at FIRST, recognition is not only part of our name but core to our ethos, and we are proud to launch nominations for the 2025 Inspire the Future: FIRST Recognition Program! We want to celebrate the FIRST educators and schools who impact and inspire their learning communities. Through their work, these educators and schools advance the mission of FIRST. Learn more about the Inspire the Future: FIRST Recognition Program and how YOU can nominate an educator or school that has made a positive impact on your community.

FIRST Certified Professional Development: FIRST will be hosting several remote Professional Development sessions that resume in January 2025 for FIRST LEGO League Explore. Enhance your knowledge and skills by engaging in one of our sessions that involve hands-on experience with student components of the FIRST program! More information can be found on our website and registration is through Eventbrite. If you have questions, email firstprofessionalservices@firstinspires.org.

New this Season! Text-Based Building Instructions: FIRST LEGO League is excited to introduce Text-Based Building Instructions for SUBMERGED. These instructions are intended to support individuals with visual impairments and FIRST community members who prefer textual instructions. Created by Bricks for the Blind, a non-profit organization that brings the joy of building LEGO^®sets to blind people, this initiative is another step to make FIRST programs as accessible as possible for our community. Find the Text-Based Building Instructions on the season resources page.

Extended Hours: Team Support will have extended customer support available until 8:00 p.m. ET on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until October 31. They can be reached via 1-800-871-8326 or (603) 666-3906, extension 0, via live chat, or via email.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

Check out this video of a rare encounter with deep-sea octopuses from an ROV.

CELEBRATION AND SHOUTOUTS

What's your team working on this week?
Let us know with a tweet @firstlegoleague or a Facebook post, and make sure to use #SUBMERGED!