By Brittney Dickerson, Andrew Grover, Alisha Pettitt, Sarah Jacoby and Sydney Curley
“Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.” This is the mission statement of the First Lego League, a robotics club for kids, founded in 2004. Several McClave students, led by math teacher Brett Havenstein, competed last year in the annual First Lego League Robotics Competition, and will compete again this Friday in Colorado Springs. From the annual competition, the top teams will advance to the Colorado State Championship in December of this year.
Once assembled by the students, the robots must be properly programmed to complete a variety of tasks on the game-board in order to score points for the team. Each team participating in the competition receives the same amount of supplies and course board to complete the course. Ten tasks are given, and the team has two and a half minutes to complete as many tasks as possible. The tasks include the robot being able to pick up and carry various items across the board following a specific path. If the robot fails to complete any given task, it results in a point deduction. The robot may only be tinkered with in a specific corner of the board. Once the robot is out on the course, it may not be touched. If the robot is picked up for a restart, or for any other reason, the judge will give a touch penalty, which is another deduction of points. Isael Gonzales, James Steerman, Dillon Dowell, Waylon Campbell, and Clay Davis are some of the members on the team who have worked on building and programming the competition robot throughout this year, as their schedules permit. They all stay after school to work on programming their robot to complete the required tasks with help from Mr. Havenstein.
There is also a second part of the Robotics program, led by 4th grade teacher Mrs. Campbell. Part two of the program is a project based on certain issues in the world. This years’ topic is transportation and how transportation can be improved. Within the 4th and 5th grade classes, ten students have been working on a presentation to present at the competition on Friday. The students have split the project into two parts: Semi-truck transportation and trains. The semi-truck group is taking into consideration the amount of fuel used by semis’ transporting goods as well as the physics of turning the extra large vehicles. Their research is focused on making these maneuvers safer for truck drivers and fellow travelers. The goal of the second group researching train transportation is also to improve the safety of trains and to come up with a strategy to reduce or eliminate the number of derailments and accidents that occur throughout the world.
Both of these programs, the Robot programming and the research project, are aimed at inspiring these young students to gain interest in the field of science and technology, and to make them aware of some of the issues that our world faces today. With the ever-changing economy and the world becoming increasingly more dependent on computer technology, these skills will help students attain a greater knowledge of their surroundings and what they can do to improve the world.
