Thursday, February 23, 2017

JANESVILLELegos, those colorful building blocks found in toy boxes around the world, are in the National Toy Hall of Fame for good reason: They're simple enough for young children to play with, but they also have advanced applications as educational tools.

It's this second way of playing with Legos that will attract 36 teams of young programmers from around the state to Parker High School on Sunday, Feb. 26, when they compete in Wisconsin FIRST Lego League's state robotics championship.

The contest is a chance for the kids to show off their programming and problem-solving skills.

For their families, it's an opportunity to show kids that playing with Legos could eventually lead to a high-paying job in technology or engineering.

Teams of middle schoolers from all over the state are coming, and Janesville schools will be well represented.

Here's how a Lego robotics competition works: Students are given a themethis year it was animal alliesand get a game board and a Lego robotics kit.

From there, the students have to build and program their robots to perform tasks on the game board. For example, the robot might have to move a shark tank or tip something over to feed an animal. The more tasks a team can get through on a game board, the higher they score.

The morning session is devoted to teams presenting their projects and discussing their robot designs with the judges. Students are also given a challenge to test their ability to work together and solve problems.

In the afternoon, teams take their robots to the competition tables to see how well they perform the particular tasks for which they're programmed.

Both the morning and the afternoon events are scored, and winners will advance to the world championship in Detroit in mid-April.

Last updated: 3:41 pm Thursday, February 23, 2017

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Parker to host Lego League state robotics competition - Janesville Gazette