Problem solving taught through LEGO Robotics during State 4-H Day – The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)

JACKSONS MILL At least a half dozen robotics teams competed in table exercises during WVU Extension State 4-H Day Saturday at WVU Jacksons Mill.

4-H groups represented included teams from Taylor, Mineral, Berkeley, Putnam, Mercer and Preston counties, as well as others participating in different competitions throughout the event.

Preston County 4-H Agent David Hartley, who coordinated the robotic challenge, said the event is meant to mold elementary, middle and high school students into problem-solvers and good teammates. Each challenge had different levels of difficulty.

Teams are coming up with programs for their robots to achieve these different challenges we have laid out for them, Hartley said. During the table runs, they have two minutes to complete as many challenges as they can. They have three chances, and they all had the option of which challenges they wanted to pursue.

Were trying to really get young people to understand how to use technology. Robotics is something we see in our everyday society, he said.

Team members could not manually manipulate their robots, but had to rely on their computer programs.

When they got here, they didnt know what (the challenge) looked like, what theyd have to do, Hartley said. There are seven different challenges.

Each team built a base robot, but teams added on extras before the table runs began, Mineral County 4-H Leader Steve Kimble explained. The two Mineral County teams built their base robots in September.

We practice for this a good while, Kimble said.

Putnam County Clover STEM coaches Jeff and Toni Takarsh helped guide four students through Saturdays competition for the first time, including three from Putnam County (including her 11-year-old son, Carter) and a girl from Monongalia County.)

This is our third year as a team (but) our first year at this event, Toni said. The three from Putnam County were also competing in the state 4-H Day speaking contest. They based some of their programming on other attachments theyve done in the past, but they did everything from scratch today, except for the basic robot design.

I think theyre pretty nervous, she added.

Putnam County 4-H also competes in the FIRST Lego League, which runs from August to December. In November, the Clover STEMs won the champions award at the WVU Jacksons Mill qualifier before winning the state championship at Fairmont State University in December.

We have a lot of meetings. The kids work really hard, Toni said.

Berkeley County 4-H STEM has had a robotics team for six years, directors Chuck and Susan Engle said. The team Saturday also included their 14-year-old son, Edward, and 12-year-old daughter, Emma.

Emma, a seventh-grader, has been on robotics teams for five years. She and teammate Allison McCaslin scored 125 points in their first table run.

It was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be, Emma said. We practiced everything in order once-or-twice through, but I think we achieved more during practice because we couldnt touch the robot (once the competition started). We had to touch it once (a 10-point deduction) because it got caught.

Stacie Himes watched her daughter, Emily, and son, Alex, compete for Taylor County Saturday. She said it was the first competitive robotics event for her children.

They love it, Himes said.

The competition also enabled the teams to get ideas from other areas of West Virginia while participating in other 4-H activities at Jacksons Mill, Hartley said.

Staff Writer Jonathan Weaver can be reached at (304) 626-1445 or jweaver@theet.com. Follow me on Twitter @jweaver_theet

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Problem solving taught through LEGO Robotics during State 4-H Day - The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)