James is in the Robotics club at his Elementary school. The 4th graders meet for two hours after school on Wednesdays where they build robots out of Legos and program them to accomplish certain tasks. The fifth graders are on the competition team and they meet more during the week. Last Saturday was their first competition. James went with some of his fourth grade friends to cheer them on. John was asked to write an article about it for our local newspapers (the Plymouth and Canton Observers).
Here's the article:
Here's the article:
On Saturday, November 14, ten students from Miller Elementary arrived at Allen Park Middle School to participate in the regional FIRST Lego League competition. Another dozen Miller students were there to support their peers. The FIRST program, established to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, provides a hands-on engineering experience for students to design and build Lego-based robots. At this event, the "Millerbots" team would present their project to a panel of judges, participate in technical interviews, and put their robot to the test in three rounds of competition.
While the P-CCS High Schools have run a robotics club for many years, Miller is the first public elementary school in the area to field a team for Lego League. The team was established this year by Kristi Berry, a 5th grade TAG (Talented and Gifted) teacher. "We have such a tremendous core of strong students at Miller who are excited about science, that we actually have about 50 students attending robotics club each week," explains Mrs. Berry. Leading such a large group would not be possible without the active involvement of parents.
As the Millerbots’ robot came to a stop in the target area at the end of round 2, the students broke into loud cheers. The mission had been completed successfully. With a combination score of robot performance, research presentation, technical presentation and teamwork, the students have advanced to the state tournament. It looks like their journey of discovery is just getting started!
For more information on First Lego League: www.usfirst.org.
Taylor and James cheering the team on!
One of the coaches demonstrating the team's approach
"Go Team!"
