The Emerson Challengers FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team competed in the Columbus State Community College FIRST LEGO League Regional Qualifier on Saturday, December 2. The team, made up of 10 Emerson 4th and 5th graders, was judged on their robot design, performance in a robot game, and a project related to this year’s theme of Hydrodynamics. They were also judged on their use of FLL Core Values, which emphasize teamwork and gracious professionalism.
For their project, the team discovered that rainwater from our gutters runs along the street, picking up debris and surface pollutants, and into storm sewers that dump directly into Alum Creek. In order to help lessen the pollution caused by that system, the group created a prototype for an individual home bioswale. A bioswale is an engineered rain garden that allows storm water runoff to filter directly into layers of soil and rock, and ultimately into the groundwater below, clarifying the water naturally as it travels. The Challengers received all “Accomplished” or “Exemplary” marks for their project presentation.
The group finished ninth out of 20 teams in the robot game, where they had 2.5 minutes to demonstrate their programming of an autonomous LEGO Mindstorms robot by completing predefined missions. Emerson teachers Beth Dalin and Jeff Miltko coached this year’s team.