Now that the competition season is over, my students are spending the rest of the year building and programming what ever robots they want. The students can make their own robots or follow directions from a book or the internet. Here are some examples:
We finally reached a higher level in Robotics! We thought it would take forever to reach 100 mission point. It made all of us feel good that we’re inproving every week! I thought; “Well, everybody including me thought that it wold be a long time till we reach 100 mission points, but guess what it didn’t take time for us because we all worked in a team.” We thought that if we work a little harder we can reach over 150 points. I know, that sounds like a lot of points but it wouldn’t take long if we all work together! Everybody was happy when the first team in a long time finally reached over 100 points. It was the Robo Super Heroes team! We all cheered alot because they were the first to reach so many points in just 2 mintues and 30 seconds! We all gathered again the next week and then all of a sudden another team got 100 points! Their team name is called RoboTech! This team was actually our team. We cheered as usaul! We were also happier because this time it wasn’t a fifth grade team; it was a forth grade team!
Muniyath
Hey guys, this entry is gonna be about another competition! Well this means there is gonna be a real live competition in front of our Vice Principal and all the classes with our teachers!
“Start taking the things down!” Mr.Farrell said as we headed to get the things for the competition. We all rushed to get out our robots from the tins]! We headed to the auditorium. We put everything down and headed upstairs again! When we got everything down auditorium, we started to settle everything out. When we were doing that our teacher, Mr.Farrell layed the table on another table! We were finally done!
All the classes started to come and we started our competiton! First we demonstrated about what the robot can do. Then, we demonstrated all the missions. While the demonstrating was going… Jaldeep and Angelo spoke what was going on and how much the points were when they finished a mission. When a team finished its turn then the speaker would say how much they got all together. You get two rounds and the highest points which a team hold wins the trophy.
We finally finished the competition. The winner was Roborobbers! They got 75 points. The team mates were Miradeth, Christian, and last of all Angelo! We clapped and clapped! It was very funny when we started to telling them to bow! Our teams well all the others teams were only 5 points away! We were amazed!
“In 5 years of dong Robotics, here now we have a 3 way tie! I’m teally proud of all there hard working and all there team work! This is the end of the Competition. Well done! Guys! Have a great day everybody!” Mr.Farrell said as we all started to get ready to leave and have a good lunch to fill up our stomachs from all the fun we had.
Thank You guys for reading our story which was a great day!!!
Please enjoy the other entries!
Mr. Farrell said,”From now on we’ll have our own competitions on Fridays.”
Everybody thought that was a good idea because now they can see how much they inproved over the week. When you do a mission you only have 2:30 to do all the missions. The teams felt that if they work hard they will inprove alot. The teams worked hard until Friday.
Finally Friday came. Everybody was ready to start the competition. Every team had a chance to do the rounds they were all waiting for so long. Mr. Farrell was proud that the teams are inproving day by day and week by week. Mr. Farrell said that if we even work harder we’ll be able to make double the week score!”We were all happy about the competition we did that day!!!
The class was exited about the mission we’re going to do next.The drivers knew that the mission was Ride A Bicycle. Everybody knew that they had to move forward first, then a slight move front, and then a slow motion turn. Then we have to go straight and come back to the base but, in a way where it doesn’t have to do slight turns. Everybody gathered around the table to see what it could do already. The robot went straight as it was told to do so. Then all of a sudden it did something it wasn’t told to do so. Everybody told the programmer that he should make a little more slight turn so it could go straight and not do something it wasn’t told do so. The programmer worked on the mistake and told the driver to start the robot again to see if it went the right way. Everybody gathered around the table again and saw that the programmer fixed the mistake and did more on to it. When the programmer finally finished he showed everybody step by step how he made the robot move and get the object. Our teacher Mr.Farrell said,”Good Job!” Everyone was happy and they knew they did TEAM WORK!!!
Mr. Farrell and all of us were exited about the competition that we were going to do together as a team! The time finally came; we went to Aviation High School where the tournament was held. Everybody was nervous because they had to go up to the table and perform in front of everybody. Mr.Farrell told us not to be nervous about anything. Muniyath and Jaldeep were the first to perform in front of everybody. Muniyath and Jaldeep were sitting and waiting for their turn. It was finally their turn to perform in front of everybody. Muniyath and Jaldeep performed 2 to 3 missions.
When they were done, up next were the 5th graders. Lisa and Carlos went to the table and started there robot and did about 4 to 5 missions. They made a good start for the first round.
One hour later was the 2nd round. Everybody was getting ready for the next round. Everybody tried out there robot at the Lambchops mat (Thanks Louis Armstrong MS). Next round finally came, then Dayanna and Alex were up next to. Dayanna and Alex waited for their turn. They went to the table, and started the robot. When they were done, the announcer said, ”Half an hour later was the 3rd contest”. Everybody started working as usual. The 4th gradres worked on the fixes they had to make for the next round. Finally it was our turn to go on the table. Muniyath and Jaldeep finished for that round. Then finally the anouncer said, ”The final round will be held in an hour.” Everybody was set to work again as usual. Finally, the last round was starting. Everybody got ready to see and do the round. When everybody was done, everybody hugged and cheered for all the hard team work they did. Then the anouncer told everybody that the score is going to show up now. Everybody saw the score on the board. Our teacher Mr.Farrell got the ribbons and then we left for home……
In the beginning of the of the year, Mr.Farrell gave us a challenge. The challenge was to build a robot and program it to go 100 cm. It took us time to build and program it to move 100 cm. We thought it wouldn’t take much time. It took at least 2 to 3 days to finish up building and programming the robot. When we were finally done, we setteled it on the table. Everybody started gathering around the table. The two drivers started the robot. Everybody was starting to get exited… Finally driver number 1 pressed the orange botton on the robot. The robot moved forward and then a 360 turn. Mr.Farrell and everybody kept an eye on the robot. Mr.Farrell was amazed when he saw that it didn’t make a mistake. Mr.Farrell was happy and said,”Good Team Work!”. All of us were happy about the hard work we did together…
Last week our new kit organizers came in. At first, everyone made faces because we thought it would take forever to organize the kits. We also thought it would be so boring that maybe everyone would fall asleep right away. After two to three days we were finally done. Everyone was happy to get back to the missions and continue working on improving are robots.
Even though it took a lot of time and hard work, having our kits organized should save us time and aggravation. Everyone was excited to use their brand new organizers!
Have you ever heard the phrase “Pay it Forward”? That’s why!
When I wanted to start a First Lego League Robotics team in my school, I was enthusiastically helped by many of my more experienced colleagues. Although I still feel like a newbie, I realize I have something to share. My goal is to share my knowledge and experiences with my colleagues (old and new) so that I can “pay it forward.”
Good luck everyone!
Mike Farrell
