The Middle School Lego Robotics Club took home trophies in two categories and qualified for the Champion’s Tournament at the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competition on Saturday, December 3.
Eleven teams met at Girard College in Philadelphia for the first annual FLL Eastern Pennsylvania Qualifier Round. This year’s projects evolved from a “Food Factor” theme that challenged each team to determine the best way to address a contamination or spoiling problem commonly found with a specific type of food that today's scientists and engineers are trying to solve. The Lego Ladies Blue Team won the Best Research Presentation trophy for their project exploring the most efficient ways to keep mushrooms fresh and free of bacteria in the time between their purchase and consumption.
The Lego Ladies Gold Team won for their presentation on why the FLL Core Values of friendly competition, mutual gain and helping one another to lay the foundation for teamwork are fundamental elements that distinguish the program. The robot, collaboratively designed by members of both teams and many other AIS Lego Robotics Club participants, also placed second overall in the competition. The group built and programed an autonomous robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS technology to score points in a series of 2.5-minute matches on a themed playing field.
“The girls and their mentors worked hard and should be very proud of this achievement,” said Dr. Tom Weissert, Director of Technology and one of the group’s advisors. “The fact that both awards stem from the articulation and verbal presentation skills of the students speaks very well of their educational background and the results we are trying to achieve in our efforts to make headway for young women in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).”
Robotics Advisor Greg Scott, Middle and Upper School Visual Arts Coordinator Jen Brittingham and Kindergarten Assistant Ashley Kaufmann serve as mentors for the club of fifth, sixth, seventh and eight graders. They have been meeting after school since September to prepare for their first regional FLL competition.
“I was very impressed with how the girls worked so well together to program their robots, complete their research projects and choose core values that were meaningful to them as students. They demonstrated fabulous teamwork as they took suggestions from everyone in the club, regardless of their grade level,” said Kaufmann, new to the program this year.
The Agnes Irwin School was one of only two all-girls’ schools represented among co-ed groups in the competition. The Lego Ladies Blue and Gold are two of the four teams to qualify and advance to the championship, which will be hosted by the University of Pennsylvania on January 28, 2012.