After months of preparation, Beaver’s LEGO League team put their work to the test when they attended the MA FIRST LEGO League Qualifier, a statewide robotics competition for middle school students. Throughout the fall term, students collaborated to identify specific “missions,” build their robot and attachments, and program it to move autonomously across the competition board to complete various tasks.
Students had the opportunity to participate in four robot game sessions, which challenged them them to complete as many tasks as possible within two minutes. Their run with the highest score was counted and ranked against other teams. As Flynn Valente ’31 proudly announced at a Middle School Meeting, “the highest score we got was 170 points!”
We learned a lot from the competition; it was a great experience!
Aki Cheung '32
Preparation for the event went beyond robotics; accounting for over half of the total score, a major component of the event is the judging presentation, where students are tasked with explaining their design process and sharing an “Innovation Project.” With archaeology as this year’s theme, students chose to narrow in on the lack of youth awareness and interest in the field. To address this, they designed a prototype of a digital game to generate excitement about archaeology. The team interviewed a professional game designer for feedback on their work ahead of the competition.
LEGO League meets on Tuesdays during recess. With no commitment required, students are encouraged to stop by to experiment with robotics and learn more about the team.