Volume 25: Issue 7

Page 1

VOLU ME 25

ISSUE 7

CHAFFEY

B R E E Z E MONDAY + NOVEMBER 17, 2014

NEWS

In Honor of Veterans

A&E

Spring Awakening: NSFW

OPINION

Pros and Cons of Campus Rifles

Fifth graders from the winning team, the Collegewood Elementay Wolf Corp., launch Lego robots in the Chaffey gymnasium on Nov. 8.

SPORTS

Season Recap: Soccer No.1

ROBERTO HERNANDEZ

League of lego: Robots invade chaffey Children are the future. Robotics are the future. So it’s only natural that some amalgamation of the two would be conceived. The children’s educational organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology hosts a number of robotic competitions for kids of all ages, including the FIRST Lego League, or FLL for short. “FIRST is an international organization that works on promoting engineering, robotics, and teamwork,” said Chaffey Career Technical Education Collaborative Grant Coordinator Anne Marie Allen. “It’s not just a sport, it’s skills for the future.” Allen reached out to FIRST to consider having it host its Lego competition at Chaffey. Her job is to prep middle and high school students for college and career readiness. In her own words, this program “fits that nicely.”

Chaffey’s gymnasium, which is normally host to a variety of decidedly lego-less sporting events, was the setting for the competition. More than a dozen teams from both elementary and middle schools participated. Four tables were set up near the bleachers in the gym. Students were required to place their robots on the starting base and navigate the field, completing as many challenges as possible. “Ready, set, Lego,” was the cue to start from the referee. The robots themselves were made entirely of Lego, utilizing its Mindstorm robotics kit. The unit is comprised of a “brain” attached to a number of motors and sensors. The robot is completely automated, running off a user-made script uploaded to the unit via personal computer. Students were given a practice field identical to the one used in the

final competition. There were three rounds of competition, with students frantically tweaking their robots and finely tuning their placement on the arena between each one. The goal of the program is to get children interested in engineering, and eventually turning that interest into a college degree. After FLL, students are expected to advance to the FIRST Tech Challenge, and finally the FIRST Robotics Competition. FRC is aimed at giving high school students real engineering experience, requiring them to build remote-controlled robots that can weigh up to 120 pounds. According to Dara DeVicariis, coach of the Ruth O’Harris Middle School Borg Dogs, there are more than $23 million in scholarships available for students who participate in the FRC league. Hsuen, a 7th grader from Chapar-

ral Middle School, said that he is interested in pursuing a career in software engineering when he grows up. “I like seeing the way it all works,” he said. “My parents bought me my own Mindstorm to use at home.” In some ways, all the teams were winners. But in another more accurate way, the Collegewood Elementary Wolf Corp was the winner, snagging the top prize in the competition. “I’m so proud of them,” said Lek Watkins, who coached the team. “We practiced at least two times a week. I only gave them advice. They programmed it and built it.” “I think engineering is important for the future,” said Scott Watkins, another coach for the Wolf Corp. “In 10 years I think FLL will be bigger.” ROBERTO HERNANDEZ @chaffeybreeze


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