Polk County Public Schools
More than 100 students from six middle schools will compete on Saturday, May 3 in a LEGO League robotics tournament.
Students will work to design, build and program robots using LEGO bricks, motors, gears and software. The tournament calls for middle school teams to use robotics to understand and create solutions for energy management and conservation. Students will program their robots to find sustainable options that include solar panels, hydro-dams, wind turbines and tree planting.
The tourney is titled “Power Wars” and will also feature costumed Stars Wars robots and characters attending the event.
The public is invited to the tourney which will be held May 3, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. A slide show on global warming will be shown at 2:45 p.m. with an awards presentation beginning at 3:15 p.m. There is no cost to attend the event which will be held at the First Baptist Church of Bartow, 410 East Church St.
Schools participating in the tourney are Discovery Academy (Lake Alfred), Lakeland Highlands Middle, Lawton Chiles Middle Academy (Lakeland), Mulberry Middle, Rochelle School of the Arts (Lakeland) and Sleepy Hill Middle (Lakeland).
The tournament and the related science instruction using robotics is part of a school district program to motivate and inspire middle school students about science.
Funding for the program, which includes robots and field kits, is through the school district and PRISM (Promoting Regional Improvement In Science And Math), an initiative of the Central Florida School Boards Coalition.
Contact Rebecca Braaten, Polk schools science curriculum coordinator, at (863) 534-0632 for further information on the tourney or science instruction in robotics.