May 11, 2006 at 5:53 a.m.
BotZealots competed in World Festival, receive award
BotZealots competed in World Festival, receive award
The BotZealots received a peer award, for Gracious Professionalism and took Third place overall. Thats Third Place in the World folks! We should be very proud of them.
In F.L.L. competitions, teams of kids build and program autonomous robots (no remotes here!) to perform specific missions within a defined period of time.
The teams also complete a research project and presentation on a particular subject; this year's topic was saving the world's oceans.
A team of eight homeschooled students from southern Chisago County, ranging in age from 11-14 and calling themselves the BotZealots researched the effects of storm water run-off and how it impacts the Dead Zone ( no life in an ocean area the size of New Jersey) in the Gulf of Mexico. They suggest we use permeable pavers instead of concrete or asphalt and add rain gardens to slow down and absorb run-off. We can also replace turf grass with native grasses which have deeper root systems. In addition, the students learned that riparian zones protect our lakes and rivers by slowing down run-off and absorbing harmful nutrients. Wetland septic systems help absorb nutrients, too.
It is a fact that we are killing our lakes, rivers and oceans with heedlessness. To learn more about the Dead Zone and the BotZealots, visit the website they created at www.botzealots.org. Go ahead, exercise your mind. You might end up making a positive difference in our oceans!
The full benefits of the program occur ONLY when kids can feel a sense of accomplishment from knowing that their FLL competitive efforts come 100 percent from their own minds and hands. This feeling of accomplishment and empowerment is what FLL is all about.
FLL is a competitive, team-based program that works with the LEGO Mindstorms product to build and program robots. Each year, a challenge is announced by the FIRST organization in mid September. Teams earn points as they participate in three phases of competition:
1) Performance - Robots have 2 minutes and 30 seconds to complete missions on a 4’ x 8’ playing field. Teams earn points based on the robots performance in each of these missions.
2) Technical Judging - Team members interact with judges to explain robot design and programming approaches. Judges ask questions to determine team member roles and their individual understanding of the technical process.
3) Presentation Judging - A presentation topic is announced by the National FIRST organization. Teams research and prepare a presentation to execute in front of a team of judges. Judges ask a variety of questions to determine their understanding of the research topic. Teams are also judged on their teamwork skills and interactions. Communication, respect, responsibility, and problem solving skills are part of this competition.
Teams from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United Stateswere in Georgia. Coaches, FLL Operational Partners, parents, corporate and local sponsors, international visitors, volunteers and spectators from the Atlanta areawere also there. The competition took place in the Georgia Dome, which seats over 70,000 people.
Comments:
Commenting has been disabled for this item.