News : Two Elementary teams earn place at First Lego League State competition

Mrs. Mann and the FLL teams celebrating their success and invitation to State contest.

First Lego League History is repeating itself already in Vinton-Shellsburg.

A few weeks after two Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School teams earned a spot in the state competition, two 5th grade teams, the Fire-Breathing Rubber Duckies, and the Water Bottle Bombers, have heard a similar honor among elementary students.

VS Elementary ELP Teacher Alissa Mann explains the First Lego League Challenge:

In September each year, a new challenge is announced that focuses on a different real-world topic related to the sciences. Each challenge within the competition then revolves around that theme. This year's theme was about the world's trash problems. Each Challenge has three parts: the Robot Game, the Project, and the Core Values. Teams participate in the Robot Game by using coding skills to program an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field. For the Core Values part of the competition, the teams are judged by how well they work together and help others as a team. In the Project part of the competition, teams research to develop a solution to a specific trash problem they have identified and present it through a skit they have written. The project portion of the competition is really involved. They must research, develop an innovative solution to their problem, contact professionals to receive feedback on their idea, and develop a fun way to share their idea with others. Their solutions must be realistic and be something that has never been done before. As part of these three areas (robotics, research project, and core values) the teams are also interviewed by working professionals (usually engineers) three different times throughout the competition.

The Regional Competition took place at Excelsior Middle School in Marion on December 12th. There was a morning and afternoon session with teams competing from schools around the state; some schools as close as Benton Community or as far away as Fort Madison. The VS Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies won an award for Core Values. The Core Values Award is how well the team displayed sportsman-like conduct and how well they worked together as a team.

The morning session had around twenty teams competing and only four were asked to go to state. The VS Water Bottle Bombers were one of those four. In the afternoon session, there were around fifteen teams competing and again only four were asked to advance to state and the Fluffy Trash Destroyers were one of the advancers.

The State Competition is going to be held at Iowa State University in Ames on January 17th. It is a free event and open to the public.

"What I learned"

When asked what they have learned from this year's FLL event, students said:

How to work better with a team. Also how much trash impacts the Earth. How to better overcome obstacles.
You always have to work together and you also can't get mad each other.
That a lot of dangerous stuff thats happens to the environment.
I learned to work as a team and not exclude people out on anything!
I learned about teamwork and robotics.
That it doesn't matter if you win anything or beat anyone it matters that you show good sportsmanship and what is important is what you learned
how to be in a team and work as a team and I hope I can use the core values in the future
That you can work very well in a group if the whole team does their job and doesn't mess around.
I learned to program robots, work with other people that I did not know, and it was like life because there were up's and down's.
How to work as a team better. I also learned about electronic waste. I learned about programing and more about robotics during Lego League.
To do your fair share.
I learned teamwork and engineering
I learned teamwork and how to program.
I learned teamwork and gracious professionalism.
I learned how to work with a team. I also learned what real fun is about.
I learned teamwork, and programing.
I learned team work, communication, programing, and how to build a robot.
I learned a lot about teamwork, and programming. I also found out how many young students there are trying to help our earth."

See more photos HERE.