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Project Goal

Tampa Bay Boulevard Elementary (TBBE) started a robotics club during the 2023-2024 school year. We had high school volunteers from Tampa Prep interested in sharing their passion/knowledge of robotics with our students. They reached out to us with the idea and a great partnership was born. Our students love working with the high school kids. After a highly successful year culminating in high placement in a local competition as well as earning the Energy Award, we would like to expand the current program to include more students. Through interactive robotics experiences, the students learn foundational STEM skills that can be applied throughout their educational journey and into a future career. The program is run by high school volunteers with a background in VEX VRC Robotics under the supervision of TBBE faculty members. Student growth will be measured with a pre and post program assessment on the student's proficiency in engineering ideas like the design process, communication strategies, and documentation necessities.

www.vexrobotics.com
www.robotevents.com 

 

Category

Other -  

 

How Project Benefits Students

Using the VEX IQ competitive robotics program components, students will be able to create their own functioning robot from scratch. Using the robot pieces, block coding, an engineering notebook, and the standardized game field and elements, students can use any and all materials given to create a robot that can carry out specific tasks. The tasks change each year based on the yearly game, this year they must be able to use the robot to play a game similar to catch. Not only do they learn the skills such as building, coding, driving, and documentation, they gain real world experiences. They have to learn to troubleshoot and problem solve any breakdowns or unexpected challenges before and during the competition. They have to learn to work with students from other schools during the competition to assure the highest score for each team. They must work well with their team to combine all of their strengths to reach the end result of a competitive robot. They learn quick-thinking, communication skills, and strategic advantages while at competitions. The fundamental engineering skills learned will benefit them in numerous ways in the future. They will follow the scientific/engineering process for the duration of the school year applying concepts learned in the classroom to real life.
The teams compete against other Hillsborough County Schools and teams from surrounding counties at Coleman Middle School (Brian Jonas @ Coleman is the event partner with Vex Robotics). There are also competitions available at schools in other counties. These opportunities provide more experiences for our students and chances to learn from other kids. There are very few robotics teams in Hillsborough County at the elementary level. Most teams are in middle and high school. By participating in the program at TBBE, students will have an advantage as they move into their middle and high school teams which could open scholarship opportunities as they near graduation.  

 

Expected Outcome(s)

The expected outcome is that students will have fun while learning STEM skills. During our weekly meetings we will reinforce scientific and engineering ideas that align with the pre and posttests. This will allow for the students to truly learn and apply the information while at practices and competitions. Their knowledge of the scientific and engineering skills will increase along with problem solving strategies and team communication skills. Most of the students will be new to this program and have little or no experience with the STEM skills needed to participate in robotics competitions. We expect that there will be at least a 60% increase in scores from the pre to the posttest measuring their knowledge of the scientific/engineering skills learned throughout the competition season. Their problem solving and team building skills will be indicated by how well they perform in the competitions. 

 

Detailed Cost Summary

Items needed for robot building/competition + shipping: 1298.39
Team registration: $200
Competition fee x3: $165
www.vexrobotics.com
www.robotevents.com
https://www.vexrobotics.com/228-8893.html
https://www.vexrobotics.com/228-8894.html
https://www.vexrobotics.com/iq-competition-kits.html
https://www.vexrobotics.com/228-8658.html
The registration and sign-up for events are through Robotevents.com. The team has to be registered before it can be signed up for any events. Some events are at Coleman, some may be at other schools. We are still looking for the events that we are eligible to sign up for.
Once this equipment is purchased, we have it for the future. They only thing new we will need each year is the items specific to that years game. 

 

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