Robotics Club for Elementary Students

School:: Dune Lakes Elementary School
Subject:: STEM Education
Teacher:: Julie Perk
: Jessica Polk, Mandy Beckham
Students Impacted:: 75
Grade:: K-5
Date:: October 10, 2023

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

The St. Joe Community Foundation - $1,500.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 53

This grant allowed the purchase of LEGO robotics kits and materials necessary for students to present research to a panel of judges. Four teams of 4th and 5th graders met from October to March preparing for their competition. The all participated in a practice event and qualifier competition. Two teams scored high allowing them to advance to the Regional competition event. We also had 4 Explore teams of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. These students meet during the months of March and April. We were fortunate to have local high school students come mentor these teams further encouraging students into STEAM related studies. Every single student indicated interest in participating on the Robotics Team next year.

grant photo

Original Grant Overview

Goal

Our goal is to provide the incredible Robotics Club experience to our students in grades first through fifth grade.

What will be done with my students

First Lego League is a company that organizes and sponsors students in all grades to work together building and coding robots. The Robotics Club works together to solve a real-world problem(s) allowing students to try and build a stronger, more sustainable future.

An application process selected 75 students for our school's Robotics Club. Teams meet weekly with coaches to discover, discuss, solve, and build solutions to an assigned problem. The 4th & 5th grade teams are at a competitive level. They need registration fees, team shirts, event tokens to share with other school teams, and materials to create a display board for events. Competitive teams work to build challenge pieces them program/code a robot to complete several missions that the team is evaluated on at competition. Teams also have to demonstrate teamwork in a core values challenge. Opportunity to progress to regional and national competitions is available to qualifying teams. Junior teams work to solve a problem set by the First Lego League and they attend expos to display their solution.

The mission of FIRST® (Lego League) is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. The program is built around theme-based Challenges to engage children ages 6 to 16 in research, problem solving, coding, and engineering. The foundation of the program is the FIRST® Core Values, which emphasize teamwork, discovery, and innovation. Students emerge more confident, excited, and equipped with the skills they need in a changing workforce. -firstinspires.org

Benefits to my students

Proven, verifiable impact! FIRST LEGO League’s positive impact on participants is gratifying and well documented. Over 87% are more interested in doing well in school, and 88% have more interest in attending college.

Student's that are exposed to STEM content at the elementary level develop long lasting interest. Many career paths for these students are in STEM related fields.

Budget Narrative

Registration for 2 Challenge level teams, team shirts for 30 students, project materials for presentation displays at competition events, registration for 2 Explore level teams, and competition fees for 2 challenge and 2 Explore teams.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	Team registration for 2 challenge teams	$650.00
2	Team shirts	$300.00
3	Project materials	$100.00
4	Challenge Competition Registration	$250.00
5	Explore Qualifier Registration	$200.00
	Total:	$1,500.00

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