Woodbrook students are judged on their obstacle course design. From left: Nate Harley, Stephen Lemaster, Autumn Gittenger, Cora Tucker and Jonathon Clark.
By Jayme Taylor, Clover Park School District
Members of the Hudtloff Middle School Hudbots and the Woodbrook Middle School Wildcats Robotics Club participated in the First Lego League Robotics Competition at Lincoln High School where they put their knowledge to the test around a biomedical engineering theme.
Students from the teams built and programmed small robots to accomplish challenges, investigated a research topic and prepared a presentation. The two Hudbots teams researched the impact of biomedical engineering on teenager’s lives, while the Wildcats came up with the idea of placing a computer chip in football helmets to help diagnose brain injuries.
“The competition focuses on many academic areas—science, engineering, math, problem-solving, research, writing and even acting—the students had a great time, while learning important skills,” said Lee Mendenhall, a Woodbrook teacher and club advisor.
Teams met with judges several times during the competition—once for a technical review of their robots and once for the research presentation. Teams were also assessed on teamwork and spirit throughout the competition and while attempting the robots challenge tasks.
The Wildcats placed 14th out of 28 teams. One Hudbots team placed 5th and the second placed 20th.
“The Hudbots are extremely creative, out-of-the-box thinking kids who thrive on the combination of the head-to-head intellectual rigor and great camaraderie both within the team and amongst teams,” said Will Leslie, a Hudtloff teacher and club advisor.