Using materials and kits supplied by Lego, and guidelines provided by the nonprofit organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology ? of which the Adventist league is partnered with ? students built and programmed robots to perform a series of ocean-related tasks along a game board on Monday, said Benjamin Escudero, assistant director of the Southern California Adventist Robotics Challenge league and teacher at the Glendale Adventist Academy.
As part of the challenge, teams earned points for how well their robots performed the different tasks, like tapping a Lego pipe line into place, pushing a protective Lego structure over a miniature oil pump and tapping a Lego shark aligned in between three other fish structures.
"This helps them with their curriculum, because the concepts ? you know, the math, science, technology ? are the same," Escudero said. "It also develops teamwork, because the teams, the students learn to support each other."
Teams had three chances ? each 2 1/2 minutes long ? to put their robots to the test. Between each trial, students could take their robots back and try to fix any flaws.
Some robots struggled to perform the tasks, while others moved along their game boards with ease.
"It was hard for us, but at the end, it's a pretty good feeling when things get accomplished," San Gabriel Academy sixth-grader Christina Morales said. "Problems come up, but if we work together, we can solve them. We weren't very successful with the tasks, but we tried."
Originally, nine schools signed up to participate in the challenge, but six dropped out, including a team from the Crescenta Valley Adventist School, said Bob Dennis, director of the Southern California Adventist Robotics League.
The team was not prepared, said A.J. Martinson, Crescenta Valley team's leader. He was at the challenge Monday to get an idea of what to expect next year, he said.
"I think we will be able to make it here and hopefully we can come somewhere near the final," he said.
