Thomas County Schools Win at Regional Competition
Most people would see the building bricks known as Legos as toys for children, but students and coaches from Thomas County see them as way more than that. They see them as an amazing, competitive learning opportunity involving robotics, engineering, science, math, and fun.
Four teams from the Thomas County School System recently attended the FIRST® LEGO® League Regional Competition in Dublin, Georgia. The FIRST LEGO League engages students in real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks while applying real-world math and science concepts. Three teams from Thomas County Middle School and one fourth grade team from Cross Creek Elementary School competed. Every team received an award, and two of the teams will advance to the Super Regionals in January.
The first team from TCMS, named Block Busters, won first overall in the competition and will advance to super regionals.
Coached by Mrs. Kimberly Simmons and Mrs. Dana Studdard, the team had a project design named the Braille Buster. The product was a teaching tool, designed and created by the students, to teach visually impaired learners how to read braille. They actually used LEGOs to make each braille letter and then placed them on an alphabet board. The students then visited the Georgia Industries for the Blind in order to present and receive endorsement for their product. They toured the plant and met with visually impaired employees in order to assess their learning needs.
Studdard, a LEGO league coach for the team, said, "The collaboration with the Georgia Industries for the Blind was priceless for the kids. They will forever see people with disabilities differently. They came away from the experience with a passion to make sure that their project was taken seriously and that it was relevant. They succeeded.”
Jeremy Simmons, an 8th grader and lead programmer for the team, said "The day of competition is very challenging, but exciting. You're never sure what your robot will do. You have to be prepared to solve problems and do your best.”
The second of the three teams from TCMS, coached by Mr. Michael and Mrs. Lisa Stephens, won the programming award and is advancing to super regionals. Known as the A+ Team, this team, worked on a project to help students with different learning styles become engaged in learning about social studies. Students created a “Race to the Museum” board game using the Georgia Department of Education’s Online Assessment System (OAS) and benchmark questions for the first half of the year. The game engages audio, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic learners through its technology.
Coached by Mr. Ashley Palmer and Mrs. Michelle Brinn, the third team from TCMS won the Project Award in Research. The team created a video to help with the language barrier in Africa when sending supplies for the Ebola outbreak.
“Our team created a kit that had all of the supplies needed to help the communities contain the disease along with a portable DVD player to play the instructional video,” said team leader Michelle Brinn. “The video gave the residents visual instruction when there wasn’t an interpreter available.”
Cross Creek’s first Lego League Team (called Thomas County Purple # 9520) brought home the Presentation Award. This award recognizes the team that effectively communicates the problem they have identified and their proposed solution to both the judges and other potential supporters.
Their presentation included team members performing a skit entitled “Oobleck and the Three States of Matter.” The team’s project involved learning about the properties of the three states of matter in a fun, hands-on method using oobleck. Oobleck comes from the book by Dr. Seuss entitled Bartholomew and the Oobleck. Oobleck is made by mixing corn starch, water, and green food coloring. Over one hundred individual containers of oobleck were distributed at the Lego League competition this past Saturday. Everywhere you looked, people were playing with oobleck.
Fourth-grade teacher and team leader, Kathy Thompson said, “Since our team was the first Cross Creek Lego League team, the coaches and team members definitely had to learn together, and throughout the entire experience, we had fun!”