LEGO lovers battle ... brick by brick
Students must design and build their robots and send them to fight on a tabletop course
Eighteen teams from HamiltonWentworth Catholic District School Board elementary schools battled robots made from LEGO at the FIRST LEGO League’s (FLL) 4th annual Hamilton Qualifier at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School on Saturday.
The fact that another six FLL teams from the board competed in St. Catharines in the Niagara regional qualifier due to space and time restrictions at St. Mary reflects the growing popularity of FLL with elementary students.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a curriculum component that gives students the opportunity to use science and technology to solve real world problems.
This year’s theme “Into Orbit” challenged students to come up with solutions to the physical and social challenges of space travel.
The robot competition is just one part of the challenge. Teams must first identify a problem involving space exploration, design solution, and then present their results to a panel of judges.
Each team must then design, build and program a robot using LEGO.
Teams battle each other’s robots on a tabletop course with different space-themed tasks that can be completed for points. The difficulty of the task determines how many points will be awarded for its completion. Teams have 2.5 minutes to attempt to rack up as many points as possible.
Besides the obvious fun of battling robots, the program promotes science and technology as a path for students that may
provide them with future opportunities in the field of technology.
“There are jobs our students are going to have that don’t even exist yet,” says Jenna Frank, the tournament director and a teacher with the HWCDSB.
“Providing them with those skill sets ... is something that our board has made a priority,” she adds.