FLL Discover:About

For children ages 4-6, this playful introductory STEM program ignites their natural curiosity and builds their habits of learning with hands-on activities in the classroom and at home using LEGO®® Duplo bricks.

FIRST LEGO^® League Discover (FLL Discover) is the beginning level of the FIRST LEGO^® League robotics program. It revolves around a theme that changes annually and is a STEM-based topic. Designed for children ages 4-6, participants learn about the annual theme through play. Along the way, they will strengthen teamwork skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving; all of which are skills needed in the classroom, and in competitive robotics. The program is curriculum-based and progressive.

Team Requirements

• FLL Discover is designed to meet the needs of children ages 4-6 (PreK-1st grade).
• The program is designed around a team of 8 children. The team will be divided into two groups of four children who will be working through the curriculum together. These groups can be made up of mixed ages, but are easiest to manage when groups have children of similar abilities (eg: similar reading skills or confidence levels).
• FLL Discover can be used in classrooms, however, students will be working together in smaller groups of four in order to follow the curriculum.
• Groups must register with FIRST in order to receive the curriculum used that year.
• At registration, two adults will be required to register as “coaches”. These coaches require no special training or knowledge about the program.

Equipment Requirements

• Each team of 8 children needs one LEGO^® Discover Set (included with registration). A new set is issued every year based on the annual theme.
• Each team of 8 children needs one LEGO^® STEAM Park Set (purchased separately from FIRST or LEGO^® Education). This set only needs to be purchased once, and can be reused in subsequent years.
• It is recommended that the coach have access to a laptop, tablet, or Smartboard. They will use this device to access the digital teaching guides and slide deck used during meetings.
• Teams will also need writing items such as paper and writing utensils (pens, pencils, crayons, etc).

Season Format

• The season theme for all FIRST LEGO^® League programs is released in mid-late August.
• After the release date, details for each FIRST program will be outlined and registration opens up to all teams worldwide. Registration happens at www.firstinspires.org
• After registration, curriculum materials will be shipped to the team’s registered address. Once the materials are in hand, meetings can begin with the team.
• The curriculum for FLL Discover is broken into 10 meetings. These meetings can begin any time after the teams are registered, from September to August of the following year:

Meeting	Description
Meeting 1	Revolves around participants getting to know each other through ice breaker Duplo challenges. The team will be broken into smaller groups of 3-4 participants. At the end of the meeting, all participants are given a Discover More set to take home.
Meetings 2-9	Groups will explore different aspects of a real-world topic, perform Duplo challenges, and keep a record of what they have learned in their Engineering Notebooks.
Meeting 10	The final team meeting is also called the “Celebration Meeting”. At this session, the entire team of 8 children will be given a final challenge to design and build a Duplo model as a group. There will also be other fun activities at this meeting. Family and friends are invited to attend the “Celebration Meeting”.

Between meetings, children and their caregivers are encouraged to perform challenges using their Discover More set at home. The challenges are included with the curriculum and are a way of reinforcing the principles learned at the team meetings.

Meeting Format

Each meeting of FLL Discover follows a similar format and lasts about an hour:

Time	Activity
Before the meeting	The coach will prepare by reading through the provided teaching materials. They will also review the provided slide deck for the meeting. This slide deck provides structure to the meeting as well as video and pictures to reinforce the overall learning goals of that session.
Intro - 10 mins	Each meeting will open with a provided “Learning Question”. This question will get the children thinking about the topic being explored at that meeting. Participants will discuss the “Learning Question”, watch supporting videos or other multimedia examples, and then outline their thoughts in their Engineering Notebooks. These thoughts are recorded as drawings, writings, or notes depending on the children's skill level.
Six-brick warm-up - 10 mins	The coach will direct the team to perform a six-brick warmup. This is a quick challenge done using Duplo bricks. At the end of the challenge, everyone shares what they have created.
Challenges - 40 mins	After the warmup, children will complete three separate challenges using Duplo bricks. These challenges all relate to the “Learning Question” posed earlier in the meeting.
Summary and Cleanup - 10 mins	After completing the challenges, participants will come back together as a group to discuss what they have learned during the meeting and to clean up.

Additional Resources

• FLL Discover Let's Get Started
• FLL Discover Team Meeting Guide
• FLL Discover Engineering Notebook