On Sunday, Jan. 21, the winning field skills at the First Lego League, FLL, competition were coding, communication and cooperation. There, the STEM Alliance’s HMX Roaring Robots team scored big, earning a spot in the Hudson Valley FLL Robotics semi-finals in February.
After months of preparation, the Hommocks Middle School team of 11 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders secured the highest number of points in the innovative project category earning them a first-place trophy for their customized project, Green Thumb.
Based on the FLL theme of Hydro Dynamics, the students designed and implemented Green Thumb as an automated irrigation system for their school greenhouse. Beyond their project win, the team had a strong showing in all other FLL categories: Robot Design, Robot Performance and Core Values.
New to the competition this year was the STEM Alliance’s first elementary robotics team: The Mamaroneck Cyber Tigers. Comprised of 12 fourth- and fifth-graders from all four Mamaroneck elementary schools, the Cyber Tigers made a powerful impression on parents and judges alike in their rookie season.
Just like the older teams, they had to compete in several areas related to Hydro Dynamics. They engineered and programmed an autonomous robot to solve urban water system issues, and they created a project that addressed a problem with the human water cycle.
For this, they wrote and illustrated a children’s book to educate kids about water conservation and how to reuse gray water. The Cyber Tigers credit their inspiration to the local water experts they interviewed, including Mamaroneck Town Supervisor Nancy Seligson, who spoke passionately about the importance of water conservation. When the team members couldn’t find any books on the subject written for kids, they decided to create one of their own. The result, A Hydro Dilemma, can be viewed digitally at lmstemalliance.org/cyber-tigers-project-2018.html.
Both teams are sponsored by the STEM Alliance of Larchmont-Mamaroneck in partnership with the Mamaroneck school district. Robotics is a key aspect of the STEM Alliance’s non-profit mission to create a network of science, technology, engineering and math learning opportunities, mirroring the infrastructure for learning a sport or playing an instrument. The teams provide an opportunity for students of different ages to collaborate. “I value working with people from all three grades, some who have been on the team before. All of us have different levels of expertise — we learn from each other,” said sixth-grader Ellie Konvisser.
According to Jill Bock, a STEM Alliance board member and the manager of both teams, “Robotics is one of the Alliance’s priority areas so this is a great way to get students involved at a young age and feed their passion for STEM activities. With our new elementary team, we are creating a ‘pipeline’ for kids to engage early, continue at the middle school, and progress to more advanced robotics teams at the high school.”
Nate Metsch, a Murray fifth-grader, explained that “being on the Cyber Tigers taught us how to work together to build a robot and use programming to solve problems.” Sixth-grader Noah Sodickson added, “Robotics has helped me build my skills of perseverance and creativity to solve challenges I wouldn’t usually face. And it has led me to think outside the box.”
The HMX Roaring Robots will continue refining their work in preparation for the semi-finals. This spring, many of the Cyber Tigers will be working to improve their competitive game by honing their skills in the STEM Alliance’s advanced robotics club. The Cyber Tigers celebrated their first competitive season with Chatsworth fifth-grader Hanna Moskowitz noting one of First’s Core Values, “what we discover is more important than what we win.”
