Yes, you read that right. A small team from a small town just made a big change. Never heard of First Lego League? First Lego League (a.k.a. FLL) introduces children around the world to the experience of solving real-world problems by applying math, science, and technology. FLL is a result of an alliance between FIRST and the LEGO Company. FLL members solve engineering challenges, develop important life skills, and learn to make positive contributions to society.
Each year FIRST comes up with a challenge theme. This year’s theme was called Power Puzzle and was all about going “Green.” There are two main parts of FLL: the robot and the project. In the first part you build a robot using the LEGO Mindstorms NXT as the “brain”. You then program the robot to do missions on a challenge board that have to do with the theme. Your robot must complete these missions in two and a half minutes.
The project is a very big part of FLL as well. Like the robot, the project has to do with the energy solutions theme. In the project challenge for this year, teams had to choose a building in their community and evaluate its energy use. The teams then had to come up with new ideas on how that building could become more energy efficient. Next they come up with ways to present their findings to both the buildings experts and judges at various competitions.
Storm CatsThe Saint Cloud Storm Cats team is made up of 6 kids ranging in the ages of 10 to 14. Who are these super hero cats? Their names are Marissa Goldberg, Gary Jon Schmal, Ryan Winters, Ross Winters, Mason Moncayo, and Mike Walters. These home-schooled students joined for the first time back in August 2007 and have created a big BANG in St. Cloud.
“We decided that since the St. Cloud City Hall governs our entire community, what better place to start?” says team member Ryan Winters. And they did. They came up with several ways for City Hall to become more “green”.
“We came up with both long and short term solutions for City Hall,” says another team member Marissa Goldberg, “For short term goals, we saw that they did not have any recycle bins, so we got the St. Cloud Wal-mart to donate four recycle bins to start them off. We also donated stickers saying ‘Please turn of lights when you leave’ for all of the bathrooms. As for long term goals, we suggested that the City Hall upgrade their 12 SEER airconditioners and put in solar powered blinds and solar powered security lights.” The Storm Cats also came up with a fun way to present their findings by becoming “cat superheroes”.
Since presenting to City Hall, City Hall has started implementing their ideas. Check out City Hall and you’ll see the stickers under various light switches. You’ll also see the recycle bins.
The first competition that the St. Cloud Storm Cats went to was in St. Petersburg, Florida. This is where they won the first place Director’s Award, and their ticket to the FLL State Tournament. They then went to another competition in Titusville, Florida where they won another Director’s Award. The Director’s Award is is given to the team that receives the highest score average in all four categories. The categories are Robot Performance, Robot Design, Teamwork, and Research Project.
The FLL State Tournament took place in Melbourne at the Florida Institute of Technology. Only fifty teams out of over two hundred in Florida are chosen to attend the state tournament. The St. Cloud Storm Cats were one of them. The day was filled with judging, judging, and more judging, but the Storm Cats had tons of fun. At State only one out of the fifty teams are chosen to represent the state of Florida at the World Tournament.
“We were all ecstatic!” says Goldberg, “We still can’t believe we won!”
Who would’ve thought that this small-town team could win something so big? The Storm Cats will be heading to the World Tournament on April 15th. It will be hosted at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
In the meantime, they plan to present their robot and project at the Dark Sky event in Harmony on April 5, and to the City Hall committee on March 27. They also would like to ask you to come to their garage sale on March 7 to help fund the 4 day trip to the World Competition. The Storm Cats are looking for individuals and local businesses to help sponsor their trip to the competition. For questions, you may e-mail the team at brent@suretime.com.
We would just like to say, that we are incredibly proud of you, Storm Cats, and wish you the best of luck! |
