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Photo courtesy of Barbara Crews The Beetles, a team of five local students, won the Alaska State First Lego League Championship at Dimond High School on Jan. 17. (Left to right) Max Durtschi, Christopher Scott, Annika Flynn, Gillean Szweda-Mittelstadt, Nick Crews. |
By Barbara Crews
Special to the Turnagain Times
The Beetles, a team of five local students, won the Alaska State First Lego League Championship at Dimond High School on Jan. 17. The team is made up of Girdwood School students Nick Crews, Max Durtschi, Annika Flynn and Gillean Szweda-Mittelstadt, and IDEA homeschool student Christopher Scott.
First Lego League is a “global program created to get kids excited about science and technology”, according to the FLL website: they build a robot that is to (hopefully) complete 17 assigned missions within a time frame of 2.5 minutes, they research and solve real-world problems, and then they find some creative way to present their research. Every year FLL bases the competition on a different theme. This year the theme was climate change, while past years have had the students researching energy, the oceans, and nanotechnology.
The Beetles chose to research spruce bark beetles as their local problem caused by climate change. They came up with several examples of solutions they found being used in Germany and England, as well as coming up with some creative solutions of their own. They presented their findings in a skit about the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show.
By winning the State Championship, the Beetles have qualified to compete at the FLL World Festival in Atlanta, GA on April 15-18. At the World Festival, the Beetles will be competing with 80 other winning teams from the United States and 30 foreign countries. The event promises to be very intense and really fun.
They would like to share their research and their robot with the community. On Feb. 28, they will host a fundraiser presentation at the Girdwood Community Center from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. There will be an appetizer and dessert buffet, information on climate change and spruce bark beetles, and lots of Lego excitement! Admission will be by donation. Please stop by and give our kids your support! If you cannot make the fundraiser, you can make a donation through Four Valleys Community School, the Bake Shop, or contact the Beetle coach, Barbara Crews at pbcrews@girdwood.net.