On November 23rd, 2019, sixteen students from Iroquois Middle School participated in the regional FIRST Lego League Robotics competition at the Nichols School. This was the second year that Iroquois took part in Lego League. Interest in the program is growing, which meant Mrs. Ferger and I (Ms. Muhlbauer) were able to grow the club from one team to two!
There was plenty of planning and preparation leading up to the competition. We held informational sessions about FLL (FIRST Lego League) during lunches. Interested students needed to apply by providing a guardian signature and also a paragraph explaining why they want to join the team. We stressed that FLL isn't a club in the traditional sense; instead, it requires a high level of commitment. Once the teams were selected, we met for two hour meetings 18 times leading up to the competition.
Another wonderful addition to Lego League this year was the introduction of student mentors. High school students Analee and Bella, members of our Girls' STEM Leadership Group, were eager to help our Lego League students succeed! Analee and Bella shared their science and team building expertise with the middle school FLL students.
For those unfamiliar with FLL, it is a three part competition. The spontaneous "Core Values" section assesses how well team members work together as a group in order to perform a specific task (mainly a team building activity). Team members must then discuss how the Core Values of Lego League can be applied to school and other settings. The Core Values of Lego League are as follows:
We are a team.
We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.
We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
What we discover is more important than what we win.
We share our experiences with others.
We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
We have FUN!
- See more at: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues#sthash.cVFMw5M0.dpuf
We are a team.
We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.
We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
What we discover is more important than what we win.
We share our experiences with others.
We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
We have FUN!
- See more at: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues#sthash.cVFMw5M0.dpu
We are a team.
We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
We know our coaches and mentors don't have all the answers; we learn together.
We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
What we discover is more important than what we win.
We share our experiences with others.
We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.
We have FUN!
- See more at: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/mission/corevalues#sthash.cVFMw5M0.dpuf
- Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
- Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
- Impact: We apply what we learned to improve the world.
- Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
- Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
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| Students practiced Core Values by assembling our competition board. |
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| Following step by step instructions is crucial. |
The "Project" section is more of a traditional science project. Students are given a topic to research first. This year, the theme was "City Shaper" and teams were challenged to find a way to improve something within their community. The challenge took on an architectural feel, as teams were urged to explore structures and buildings within their community. The team shares their innovation with a group of people who can benefit from their research. They then must create a short presentation to show the judges what they learned through the research process.
The White Team decided to tackle the problem of Iroquois's campus not being bike friendly. By developing ways to make Iroquois more bike friendly, the environment would be positively impacted and students would receive more exercise. In addition to performing research online, students also interviewed Mr. Eric Nagel, Iroquois' Transportation Supervisor, and Mr. Clark, an official from the Town of Elma.
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| The White Team's completed project board. |
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| Members of the White Team share their project with an interested student. |
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| Members of the White Team prior to presenting their project to the judges. |
The Red Team identified Elma's lack of a community pool as a problem in our area. Many of the other surrounding communities have access to a pool, but Elma/Marilla/Wales do not. Through research and an interview with Mr. Joe Colern from the Town of Elma, students developed a plan to make a community pool that was accessible for community members of all abilities.
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| The Red Team's completed project board. |
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| Members of the Red Team, just after presenting their project to the judges. |
Last but not least is the "Robotics" component. Students are honing their computer programming skills in order to train a robot to complete missions. Each mission is worth a predetermined amount of points, so the team that accumulates the most points will win this section of the competition. This part of the competition requires a lot of trial and error; it is difficult to get the robot's programming just right in order to complete the missions.
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| Members of the Red Team cheering on their robot. |
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| Preparing for the robot competition. |
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| Members of the White Team prepare for the robot competition. |
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| Setting up the robot required care and precision. |
During the competition, it was very exciting when our teams' robots successfully completed missions! The White Team's robot came in eighth place and the Red Team's robot came in sixth place out of twelve teams.
In between the rigorous competition rounds, our students found ample time to have fun! The staff at Nichols does an amazing job keeping the entire day exciting, interactive, and upbeat.
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| Nichols provided a button making station for all attendees. |
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| Students were invited to dance in between each robot round. |
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| The Lockport High School robotics team shared their creations. |
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| The cookies at the concession stand were a huge hit! |
Although both teams are to be commended for a successful day, the White Team deserves a special nod for winning the event's Core Values trophy! This trophy is awarded to the team that displays outstanding teamwork, perseverance, and kindness throughout the competition. In addition to earning the trophy, students on the White Team were also selected as Model Citizens by the robot judges because they cleaned up their robotics supplies without being asked. This wonderful behavior is indicative of the amazing students we have at Iroquois!
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| Members of the White Team with their Core Values trophy. |
Although Lego League is over for this year, the team members are keeping their robotics skills sharp by participating in the middle school's Bright Minds Club and Science Challenge. All sixth and seventh grade students are visiting the library with their STREAM classes in December to compete in various coding activities.
Thank you to the Lego League students and families for another successful year!
