Decatur City Schools Robotics
E-News October 2014
DARC Symbiosis Video (Tennessee Valley BEST Competition)
PLEASE HELP!
Our elementary school robotics clubs are in need of laptops. Since the Lego EV3 and older NXT kits are programmed and the students spend a good deal of time adjusting their programs, it's much easier to have a mobile platform! These laptops don't have to be new! Here are the system requirements:
Apple Macintosh
- Mac OS 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 with the latest Service packs.
- Dual core processor 2.0 GHz or better.
- 2GB of RAM or more.
- 2GB of available hard-disk space.
- XGA display (1024 x 768).
- 1 available USB port.
Microsoft Windows
Windows XP (32 bit only) and Vista (32/64 bit) excluding Starter Edition - with the latest Service Packs. Windows 7 (32/64 bit) and Windows 8 desktop mode including Starter Edition - with the latest Service packs.
- Dual core processor 2.0 GHz or better.
- 2GB of RAM or more.
- 2GB of available hard-disk space.
- XGA display (1024 x 768).
- 1 available USB port.
If you are replacing your laptop or know someone who is, please consider donating old laptops to these amazing students and their teachers. For more information, or to donate laptops, please contact Susan Haddock, 256-552-3060 x6420; susan.haddock@dcs.edu
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ROBOTICS CLUBS
Elementary Robotics Clubs- NOVEMBER Challenge!
In honor of Thanksgiving, here's the November challenge for all the elementary school EV3 robotics clubs!
Build a dining room table with your Legos. In the center of the table, place a Thanksgiving turkey (made of Legos, of course!). Your robot's job is to guard the table! Create a program that allows your robot to move back and forth in front of the table. Use one Loop Block configured to loop indefinitely, a MOVE block to move forward, and another Move block to turn around.
All clubs who complete the challenge before Dec. 1 will get a special surprise from Mrs. Haddock!
Austinville Elementary School, Jeffrey Gilbreath, Sponsor
Banks-Caddell Elementary School, Joy Martin and Whitney Eddy, Sponsors
Benjamin Davis Elementary School, Caroline Weems, Sponsor
Second graders at Ben Davis are completing their unit on simple machines this week! Students have had a lot of hands-on experiences comparing the amount of force used to lift a water bottle by hand vs. using various simple machines. The have also enjoyed using computer games to learn about both simple and compound machines. All 2nd graders will start working with robotics next week.
Also, our Junior First Lego League had its first meeting last Monday after school and students were introduced to our challenge for this year. Students are "Redefining Learning". They will decide on a place and tool that is used for learning, research it, and build a model to show what they have learned.
Benjamin Davis Robotics Students are competing in Jr. FLL this year!
Jr.FLL captures young children’s inherent curiosity and directs it toward discovering the wonders of science and technology. Jr.FLL features a real-world Challenge, solved by research, critical thinking and imagination. Guided by adult coaches and the Jr.FLL Core Values, students work with LEGO elements and moving parts to build ideas and concepts and present them for review.
Chestnut Grove Elementary School, Kristi Adams and Mary Kate Collins, Sponsors
Eastwood Elementary School, Melissa Dickman, Jennie Roberts, Margaret Greer, Teresa Oakley,Patti Wilkins, Sponsors
Francis Nungester Elementary School, Allison Sain and Sara Clifton, Sponsors
Julian Harris Elementary School, Jerry McRae, Sponsor
Leon Sheffield Elementary Magnet School, Kent Sanders and Laurie Corson, Sponsors
Somerville Road Elementary School
Walter Jackson Elementary School, Leah Payne, Sponsor
West Decatur Elementary School, Shannon Posey, Sponsor
EV3 Robotics Resources- from Robin Gillespie @ Oak Park
EV3 Tutorial: http://www.stemcentric.com/ev3-tutorial/
Robotics Lessons: http://www.ku-prism.org/resources/polar/robotlessons.html
NASA Robotics Lesson Plans: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/robotics/lessonplans/#.U7oZ_XkZdg0
MIDDLE SCHOOL ROBOTICS TEAMS
Brookhaven Middle School, Tom Irwin, Sponsor
Cedar Ridge Middle School, Tammy Pickens, Sponsor
Advanced Robotics is focused on FLL competition in November. The two teams are working hard on the three components of the competition: robot, project and core values.
Beginning Robotics recently completed an "Alien Encounters" challenge and is currently working on the "Halloween Challenge".
Oak Park Middle School, Robin Gillespie, Sponsor
Oak Park's FLL team 2014-2015
Front row: Hunter Greenwell, Eli Burns, Wim Vandiver, Jackson Peters
Back row: Will Dinsmore, Issac Englund, Bill Collins, Joe May, Chandler Bryant
Oak Park and Cedar Ridge Middle Schools are participating in FLL this year.
The best way to summarize FIRST LEGO League is to say that it is a robotics program for 9 to 16 year olds (9 to 14 in US/CAN/MEX), which is designed to get children excited about science and technology -- and teach them valuable employment and life skills. Teams, composed of up to ten students with at least one adult coach, can also be associated with a pre-existing club or organization, homeschooled, or just be a group of friends who wish to do something awesome.
In FLL, the students do the work! And the work is programming an autonomous robot (using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robot set) to score points on a thematic playing surface, creating an innovative solution to a problem as part of their project, all while being guided by the FLL Core Values. These three elements - the Robot Game, Project, and FLL Core Values - make up what we call the FLL yearly Challenge.
FLL Dates
HIGH SCHOOL ROBOTICS
The Decatur Austin Robotics Coalition (DARC), Susan Haddock, Sponsor; Ian Lamb, Asst. Coach
DARC at TVB Competition
DARC's Alumni Legacy Photo of the Month
Meet Dwight and Josh Miller! Dwight (left) is a sophomore at Calhoun Community College and will soon transfer to UAH to pursue a degree in engineering. Dwight joined DARC as a sophomore at Austin High School after three years in Tom Irwin's engineering program at Brookhaven Middle School. His younger brother, Josh (right) , is a freshman at Austin High and a current member of DARC. In addition to taking engineering classes at Brookhaven, Josh was also on the Middle School Robotics team, DMR, during his years at Brookhaven.
Dwight still supports the team at competition and has been a team mentor!
DARC participates in the BEST Robotics Competition
You get BEST, a middle and high school robotics competition whose mission is to engage and excite students about engineering, science, and technology as well as inspire them to pursue careers in these fields.
Through participation in our project-based STEM program, students learn to analyze
and solve problems utilizing the Engineering Design Process, which helps them develop technological literacy skills. It is these skills that industry seeks in its workforce.
Each fall, over 850 middle and high schools and over 18,000 students participate in the competition.
This year's theme is "Bladerunner". The competition is focused on wind energy.
Tennessee Valley BEST Competition
DARC competed on October 18th at the Tennessee Valley BEST Robotics competition at Calhoun Community College. The team won the following awards:
1st Place Web Design, 1st Place Marketing Presentation, 1st Place Booth Construction and Interviews, 2nd Place t-shirt design, 2nd Place Spirit and Sportsmanship, 3rd Place Engineering Notebook.
The team placed second overall behind Lindsey Lane Christian Academy.
DARC wants to especially thank alumni Sarah Grace Mitchell, Daniel Brackin, and Rian Silvestri for taking time out of their fall break at Auburn to coach the team before competition!!
South's BEST Robotics Competition
Saturday, Dec 6, 2014, 08:00 AM
Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Decatur City School's Robotics Expo
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2015, 05:30 PM
Ingalls Harbor, Market Street Northwest, Decatur, AL, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.