Legomanics Gone Lunar
Phase 1 Video Submission
Monday, July 16, 2012
What we've accomplished so far ...
July 1 ... I found out about this competition from another homeschooling family's post on our facebook board. I asked the kids if they were interested, and they said they would think about it.
July 3 ... I talked to another homeschooling mom in our Lego group, and she said she'd talk to her kids about it too.
July 5 ... All kids are on board and getting excited about this project.
July 9 ... We're brainstorming team names, talking essay questions, and imagining lunar landscapes.
July 10 ... We have a blog! Our working title right now is Legomaniacs Lunar Adventures, which might end up changing.
July 12 ... We worked out many details today: took mountains of pictures, made final decision on team name (legomaniacs gone lunar) and designed our logo, worked on our blog, worked on essay questions, researched for and worked on what they would be doing for their individual spots in the the team video. Andrew worked hard on our video submission.
July 13 ... Brainstorm session today. We worked on our application questions. We also were able to see what Andrew has gotten done on the video. We're all glad he knows how to make movies. It's looking great. We just need to film each of the kid's segment to finish. We also worked more on our blog, finishing up our introduction post. Zach completed his video segment later in the day. Phillip did his video segment too, but the camera operator (me) messed it up by turning the camera sideways to get a better shot. He'll have to either be horizontal in our video, or he'll have to do it again. It's a shame because he did a great job on it.
July 14 ...We taped the three remaining spots for our movie today. Andrew filmed in a different location, so I haven't seen his spot yet, but I can't wait. He's dressed up as a Mad Scientist, that's all I know for now. Grace and Phillip's segments went pretty well, no scripts for these two. They thought a little more about what they wanted to say, and they went for it. We got both on the second take, and they didn't go over their time limit. Yeah! That means little to no editing will be needed on Andrew's end of the project.
July 15 ...We transferred all video segments to Andrew this morning so he can put the finishing touches on our video. Grace and Phillip's segments are in a different format. Grrrrr. Now, to find out how to change format and make them work. Lots of research late into the night to figure out how to work this problem out. Finally, I found a blog from a cool, tech dude that answered our questions. We hope the files are converted correctly.
July 16 ... Success! We were able to transfer Grace and Phillip's segments, so Andrew can put them into our video entry. It looks terrific! We're excited!! We'll finish the rest of our application, and hopefully, submit our entry later on today.
Update: We've done it! A couple hours after we registered, we were listed on the Team page, with our own dot on the map and everthing. Phase 1 is complete for Legomaniacs Gone Lunar! We hope we'll be able to advance onto the next Phase, but, if not, we have learned a lot and had a lot of fun learning. :)
July 1 ... I found out about this competition from another homeschooling family's post on our facebook board. I asked the kids if they were interested, and they said they would think about it.
July 3 ... I talked to another homeschooling mom in our Lego group, and she said she'd talk to her kids about it too.
July 5 ... All kids are on board and getting excited about this project.
July 9 ... We're brainstorming team names, talking essay questions, and imagining lunar landscapes.
July 10 ... We have a blog! Our working title right now is Legomaniacs Lunar Adventures, which might end up changing.
July 12 ... We worked out many details today: took mountains of pictures, made final decision on team name (legomaniacs gone lunar) and designed our logo, worked on our blog, worked on essay questions, researched for and worked on what they would be doing for their individual spots in the the team video. Andrew worked hard on our video submission.
July 13 ... Brainstorm session today. We worked on our application questions. We also were able to see what Andrew has gotten done on the video. We're all glad he knows how to make movies. It's looking great. We just need to film each of the kid's segment to finish. We also worked more on our blog, finishing up our introduction post. Zach completed his video segment later in the day. Phillip did his video segment too, but the camera operator (me) messed it up by turning the camera sideways to get a better shot. He'll have to either be horizontal in our video, or he'll have to do it again. It's a shame because he did a great job on it.
July 14 ...We taped the three remaining spots for our movie today. Andrew filmed in a different location, so I haven't seen his spot yet, but I can't wait. He's dressed up as a Mad Scientist, that's all I know for now. Grace and Phillip's segments went pretty well, no scripts for these two. They thought a little more about what they wanted to say, and they went for it. We got both on the second take, and they didn't go over their time limit. Yeah! That means little to no editing will be needed on Andrew's end of the project.
July 15 ...We transferred all video segments to Andrew this morning so he can put the finishing touches on our video. Grace and Phillip's segments are in a different format. Grrrrr. Now, to find out how to change format and make them work. Lots of research late into the night to figure out how to work this problem out. Finally, I found a blog from a cool, tech dude that answered our questions. We hope the files are converted correctly.
July 16 ... Success! We were able to transfer Grace and Phillip's segments, so Andrew can put them into our video entry. It looks terrific! We're excited!! We'll finish the rest of our application, and hopefully, submit our entry later on today.
Update: We've done it! A couple hours after we registered, we were listed on the Team page, with our own dot on the map and everthing. Phase 1 is complete for Legomaniacs Gone Lunar! We hope we'll be able to advance onto the next Phase, but, if not, we have learned a lot and had a lot of fun learning. :)
Thursday, July 12, 2012
We are a group of friends, crazily addicted to Legos. This Spring, we started a Lego Club in the area for our homeschooling community. Joyce, Grace and Phillip's mom and our team captain, started calling us the "legomaniacs" in her announcement emails. The club has been a success, with quite a few families participating. We always love to see what everyone has created. When we found out about this challenge, we decided it sounded like it would be a lot of fun. So, we're ready to take on this new challenge, explore this new frontier. That also how we came up with the name. Our club is going lunar! We have little to no experience with robotics. but we are certainly eager to learn.
Team Legomaniacs Gone Lunar includes:
Zach is called "Zasquatch" because of his size 13 shoes and "Mr. Minimalist" because he likes everything plain and simple. He's 15 and is interested in history and literature and would like to pursue a career as a professor in either field. He has over 400 books in his library. His favorite books are: To Kill a Mockingbird, Frankinstein, Fahrenheit 451, and Time to Get Tough. Zach enjoys golfing, swimming, and singing in choir. His favorite TV shows are Alcatraz, Touch, America's Got Talent, and Eureka. He has a laugh reminiscent of Herman Munster, so we all love to get him going. He's also our walking Spell Check.
Grace (aka The Doctor) is 12. Besides building Legos, she loves swimming, cooking, reading, drawing manga, watching anime, playing video games, acting, Green Day, and all things Doctor Who. Her favorite author is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and she believes everyone should read The Hound of the Baskervilles RIGHT THIS MINUTE! She also loved the Harry Potter series and is currently reading The Maximun Ride series. If you can't find her, she's usually tucked away somewhere with her nose in a book. She's all tomboy and believes every outfit could use some wild and funky mismatched socks and Chucks. The current pair she's rockin' are a Robin's Egg Blue.
Andrew (The Mad Scientist <insert evil laugh>) is 11. He loves swimming, tennis, chess, golf, making movies, and composing music. He's attended sciences classes at both Fermilab and a local university. He's wants to become an Astro and Theoretical Physicist. His favorite TV shows are Eureka, Dr. Who, Stormchasers, and Fringe. Andrew's favorite books are Universe in a Nutshell and Rendevous with Rama. His favorite author is Isaac Asimov. He just got his first pair of glasses this year, and he made sure the ones he picked looks like Fargo's pair from the show Eureka. He's an amateur meteorologist who likes to chase storms but is afraid of lightning.
Phillip (Black Star) is 10. He loves Legos, of course. He's best known for modifying his sets. You'd better look at them quickly when he finishes because they'll never be the same again. His other interests include playing video games, playing outside with friends, chess, farming with his dad, and romping around the yard with his two dogs. He loves all things Star Wars. He can change his accent in a blink of the eye, so you never know what you're going to get when you talk to him. He can usually be found sporting some sort of camo, a Nerf gun, and has various minifigs or Lego pieces in his pockets. His motto, "Never leave home without them!" He'd like to be a pilot or design planes or work in the engineering field when he grows up.
LEGOMANIACS GONE LUNAR
Our mascots include:
Suki,
Poochee,
and, of course, these guys!
We're excited to begin this new, exciting adventure. We'll be updating this site as we progress through the competition. Please join us!
Signing off for now ...
Joyce
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