The Namaste Elementary First Lego League Robotics Team, The Tech Animals, was awarded first place in a FLL qualifying tournament they competed in with 22 other teams from the area. The event was held in Auburn, NY on Saturday January 20, 2024. Tech Animals will move on to compete in the Fingerlakes Regional Tournament in Buffalo on February 10, 2024.
FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Level introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children ages 9-16 through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem solving experience through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together. This program inspires youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.
For the tournament, the team was evaluated in four areas of performance: Innovation Project, Robot Design, Mission Coding and Execution, and Core Values. As a first place winner the Tech Animals demonstrated excellence in all four of these areas.
This Season’s FLL Theme was “Masterpiece”. Participants learned about how technology is used in the arts. The Innovation Project Challenge was to take a hobby or passion your team cares about and share it with others using technology. The Tech Animals shared their passion for helping animals in need. They researched how kids their age can get involved and make an impact. They brainstormed a wide range of ways to get involved from organizing supply drives for local animal shelters to park clean up days. They created a plan to make short engaging videos to share through social media and inspire others to get involved. Their project required learning how to use an HD video camera, sound recording devices, lighting for video production, and using video editing software.
They designed and coded an autonomous robot using the Lego Spike Prime Brick and App to complete missions on the competition field. They had 2 and a half minutes to complete as many missions as possible, scoring points for the successful completion of each mission. In an interview session with judges they explained their robot design process, coding scripts, and overall strategy.
Throughout the entire season the team embodied the Core Values of the FLL: Discovery, Innovation, Inclusion, Teamwork, Impact, and Fun.
