What is TechBrick?
TechBrick is a LEGO club formed for home schoolers in the
Harford County area. We currently have about 60 registrations
with a monthly attendance of 25-40 children and parents (who are
encouraged to stay and participate). We have two competition
teams that meet weekly that involve 14 children and 5 adult
coaches. You can see some of
what we’ve been doing at
http://www.techbrick.com
Our Goals
We have two general goals for the club:
-
To
encourage children of all ages to think creatively and solve
problems to everyday challenges.
-
To field
two teams for the local/state LEGO competition and hopefully
national as well.
What is the First LEGO League?
The First LEGO League is the sponsoring organization. This
international group arranges the local, regional, and national
competitions and sets forth the rules and guidelines. In
addition, they create the annual challenges.
You can get more information at
http://www.firstlegoleague.org
What
is This Year’s Challenge?
This year’s challenge is Ocean
Odyssey. The challenge consists of four sections: 1) An
autonomous robot task in which the team’s robot must compete a
number of tasks in 2 ½ minutes. 2) A technical evaluation. 3) A
teamwork evaluation. 4) A presentation about the ocean and how
we use it and interact with it. The state challenge will be held
on Jan 21 at UMBC Catonsville. More than 60 teams will be
competing for the top slot that will take them to Atlanta and
the world competition.
What Have We Been Doing?
The teams meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays to plan their
research and robot development. The program is challenging and
for our team has already resulted in substantial lessons
learned. You can see some of
what we’ve been doing at
http://www.techbrick.com
How Can You Help?
We need to raise a total of $3000. This will help cover the
team’s registration and required equipment as well as tee-shirts
and other general materials. In return, we will feature the
sponsor’s logo our competition sign, the website, and all other
related materials.
These children are our future. This is without a doubt one of
the most challenging, engaging programs I’ve seen to date. Your
support will make a huge difference in the future of 14 bright,
engaged, and creative young minds.
Note:
Checks can be made payable to “New Covenant Presbyterian Church”
and are tax deductible. Please designate “Home School Coop LEGO
Club” on the check and return them to me at
1603 Belvue Drive, Forest Hill, MD 21050.
// Marco Ciavolino
