Taking it block by block

Jake Brown and Mai Le sat on the floor of the Adams Elementary computer lab and crossed their fingers.

The robot they were driving was headed straight for an iceberg with its payload of people and a polar bear, but would it stay on track? It was all programmed, so students couldn’t steer on the fly.

The three-motor, Lego-built robot rammed into a line of white Legos symbolizing a polar region, and the cargo flew straight for the zone that would score points.

“Good!” said Gifted and Talented Education teacher Juanita Priesand. “You have 10 seconds left. Now, beat the clock.”

In those few moments, the drivers set the robot back in the start zone, hit another button and watched it move straight forward, pivot left and zoom into the spot that awards a few bonus points.

It was the last chance the group of Adams Elementary fifth- and sixth-graders had to practice before today, when they travel to Carlsbad to compete in the FIRST Lego League. Following an entire semester of programming, building and research, the competition has kids presenting on scientific issues and then battling it out to have the robot that scores the most points by completing various tasks.

This meet’s topic was “climate,” so the kids met with Orange County Water District officials and learned about the risks of drought and ways to ease the problem. The result: a skit, complete with students playing scientists, regular people and water droplets.

“There’s two people fighting over the droplet because they both want to use the water,” Le said. “Then a scientist comes over,” who proceeds to explain how to conserve.

This is the school’s first year competing, Priesand said.

“I had no idea what we were getting into,” she said.

The kids didn’t either, but when they realized that once a week wasn’t enough to get the job done, they met during recess, after school and as often as it took, she said.

There were still a few kinks at the end, as it turned out. A fresh set of batteries had their entry going further and faster than when they programmed it — fouling up the objective of pushing a ball into a goal.

“There are some things you can’t plan for,” said Charlie Griffen, 11.

Asked what the hardest part of the project was, the students answered as one: “The programming.”

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].