Lego league challenges create young engineers

Colin Maruscsak knows what he wants to be when he grows up - and it's because of Legos.

Colin, a fifth-grader at St. Mary's School in Ballston Spa, spent New Year's Eve with his nine robotics teammates at a public high school, showing off their robot's tricks.

So far, the "Lego league" team has assembled a four-by-eight-foot Lego obstacle course following instructions and programmed a Lego robot - following their instincts and using a lot of trial and error. The robot can transport objects, knock over walls and push a car down a ramp.

There are some kinks, however. During their debut presentation at First Night in Saratoga Springs, the team scrambled to fix a computer glitch that was preventing the car from ticking up the ramp. At least they had discovered they had to change the wheel materials weeks ago.

There was no fighting, and no one claimed to be the leader.

"That's a good point about this thing," Colin said. "The more teamwork, the better the team."

He's decided to be an engineer when he grows up, though he kind of knew this before the robotics team started in October: "This gave more support to it," he noted.

The team is a program of FIRST, or "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," a national non-profit that inspires young people's interest and participation in those fields.

St. Mary's first Lego league coach, Mark Pribis, says it does just that.

"It's a really fun way for kids to get involved in technology and to put basic engineering principles to work with a really hands-on experience," Mr. Pribis said.

Though the coach was at one time employed as an engineer, he doesn't give the group of fourth- and fifth-graders any technical assistance.

"I organize the Legos; that's it," he said. "It's amazing how fast they pick it up."

The team will participate in a regional competition in February. The robot they built will earn points based on a mission; the boys themselves will earn points for teamwork.

They also have to present a solution to a transportation problem. They chose "cell phone usage as a driver distraction" as their topic; they're currently researching a cell phone application that connects to a car key and prevents the phone from working when the car is being driven.

They meet once a week, generally for an hour and a half, but they have experienced a few four- or five-hour sessions. Breaks consist of running around the gym.

St. Mary's also has two first- through third-grade junior first Lego league teams, each with six children. One team is building a mockup of the Hubble telescope control room to show how it transports information to earth.

Their visit to a Schenectady planetarium, as well as their internet research, has been helpful, coaches said.

The other team will show how sound moves through objects. They visited a veterinary clinic and witnessed an ultrasound during Christmas break.

St. Mary's invested $2,000 in the Lego sets. The school is looking for corporate sponsorships to fund additional teams for next year.

01/14/10 [[In-content Ad]]