When many people think Legos, they think of simple blocks that snap together. Getting snazzy might mean building a model house – or a castle, if you’re good.
But times have changed, and with them, so have Legos. They now read software, have batteries and move on their own.
Enter the sixth annual Four Corners Regional Lego League Tournament, which rocked Animas Valley Elementary School on Saturday, with about 150 kids participating in three platforms of competition.
The First Lego League is a global program that comprises about 70 countries and about 200,000 kids ages 9 to 16, whose young minds are using science and technology to overcome challenges.
Made possible by the Durango Discovery Museum, the regional league has gained momentum, growing from two teams in its first year to 14 competing teams today.
“It’s kind of nuts,” said Jen Lokey, educational program manager at the museum. “You used to think, ‘Oh, my 4-year-old plays with Legos,’ but there’s this huge field of Lego robotics now (and) some amazingly advanced things you can do with them.”
For this year’s theme of “Nature’s Fury,” teams of 10 were assigned three sets of challenges. For the first, the “Robotics Challenge,” teams had to design robots using base models and Lego parts and program them to perform specific tasks on an obstacle course.
“It’s modular computer-programming technology, but they actually program a robot,” said Discovery Museum Education Director Sarah Margoles. “They measure distances and calculate things.”
The Robotics Challenge is a popular spectator event, and emotions ran high as two kids from one team competed against a pair from another team to race their robots to accomplish tasks, or “missions,” for points.
In the second “Project Presentation” portion of the competition, teams were presented with a problem to solve by using proposed technology they researched within the community and presented in a 5-minute skit.
St. Columba won the Robot Challenge and the Project Presentation, The tournament’s first all-girls team from Cortez tied with Mountain Middle School for the Core Values portion.
The “Super Tsunami Girls” built a robot out of Legos and programmed it to complete missions in the event a tsunami hit Hawaii, including how to minimize destruction of roads and bridges.
The girls researched their subject, interviewed construction experts such as engineer Curtis Gemaehlich of Yeh and Associates, and came up with a solution to the problem.
The team received 80 points for their missions and 85.5 on their presentation skit. They plan to compete again next year.
Team members are: Anna Carter, Marina Bradley, Scott Earley, Jayden Thomason, Alexcia Sharp, Elinore Muhonen and Amara Cook. Troop leaders and coaches are Gayle Earley, Wendy Carter and Dena Thomason.
Chris Cable, the museum’s executive director, said these kinds of events are important for kids to learn to work together.
“They’re engaging,” he said. “They’re team-building opportunities, and it’s just fantastic to see middle-schoolers get so excited about things. You have research, there are technical skills, engineering, science and then the element of competition.”
Teams also were evaluated by a secret judge on the third component of the competition, Core Values, which included gracious professionalism, respect for others and teamwork.
“The biggest thing they learn is teamwork,” Margoles said. “And it’s the hardest thing to learn, to split things up and function as a team. Scientists don’t just sit around in labs by themselves, they go out into communities and work together to find solutions to our problems.”
Even Secretary of State John Kerry has endorsed the FLL.
“Use what you are learning to make the world a better place,” Kerry said on www.firstlegoleague.org. “We’re counting on you.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
