Hacienda Robotics Course Introduction

Overview

Welcome to the third annual, award winning Hacienda Robotics program. Each year the program gets bigger and better and in keeping with that theme we plan to make this year's program the best ever. Your enthusiastic involvement will help make that a reality.

Each year thousands a kids from all over the world join together in a three-month long competition that culminates in local and state tournaments and a national exhibition event. This is by no means an easy program and it requires a lot of time and hard work, but you will be rewarded for your efforts with one of the most exciting and enjoyable experiences of your time at Hacienda.

Rules

Like any organized club the Hacienda Robotics program does have some rules. These rules are in place mostly to ensure that everyone has fun and benefits from their participation in the program.

  1. Have fun!
  2. Be supportive of your teammates.
  3. Listen to the coach and other parents.
  4. Handle all equipment with care.
  5. Follow along with the activities during the meetings.
  6. Always do your notebook assignments (see next section).

Notebooks

Aside from having a good time and learning a lot about science and technology one of the most important things you will get out of the program is a detailed notebook that you will use to keep track of your thoughts, ideas and things you learned during the various lessons we will be doing. Keeping your notebook up to date is very important. There will be a small notebook assignment for each lesson and if you let it fall behind it will be difficult to catch up. So remember to always do your notebook assignments after each meeting. To help you remember your coach will collect the notebook assignments at the beginning of each class and return them to you after he or she has had a chance to look them over.

At the top of each notebook assignment page is a place for you to write the date and your name. For the date use the day you begin to fill out your notebook page. Most notebook pages will only take you a few minutes to fill out. Below the date and name is a place for you to write some notes about the lesson you just completed and anything else you want to write about. It is a place for you to enter anything you want - there are no rules about what to enter in the notes area. Here is a short list of suggestions for things you might include in the notes area, but don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to these ideas.

  • What did you do in the lesson? Include enough details to refresh your memory at a later date.
  • What was something neat you learned during this lesson?
  • Do you have any ideas for things you want to do next week or beyond?
  • Talk about non-robotics stuff. Inspiration comes from many sources.
  • Feedback. Is there anything you would like to see changed in this lesson or the robotics program in general? Here's your chance to help make a difference.

Activity

Show your team spirit and join your fellow team members in a round of the name game

Copyright © 2003, Hacienda Robotics Program.