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Tech Tsunami Takes states in Programming !!
Tech Tsunami Takes states in Programming !!
Team Tech Tsunami Moves on to States wins 1st in Robot and Overall at Qualifier
Team Tech Tsunami Moves on to States wins 1st in Robot and Overall at Qualifier
Team Reigning Robots wins Judges award at Qualifier
Team Reigning Robots wins Judges award at Qualifier
Guessing the New Table Missions!
Guessing the New Table Missions!
Our Very Own Land Sharks Featured in the Rhode Island Catholic
Our Very Own Land Sharks Featured in the Rhode Island Catholic
OLM’s “Land Sharks” Earn Judges Award at First Lego League Championships
East Greenwich, RI -- Our Lady of Mercy’s First Lego League team “Land Sharks” earned the Judges Award at the State Championship Robotics Championship on Saturday, January 15 at Roger Williams University. First Lego League allows students to explore the field of engineering with real world problems that need solving and robot design missions. Each year, teams must compete at qualifiers to proceed to the State Championships. 8o -plus teams competed and along with 36 others, 4 Our Lady of Mercy teams advanced to the State Championship.
The theme of this year's event is Animal Allies and each team has to solve a problem that existed with Animal and Human Interaction. The OLM team “Microchip Megalodons” wants to remove an invasive species of phragmites while not interfering with the habitat of tree swallows. The “Crabby Crew” has found a good use for the invasive species of Asian Shore Crab which could create more jobs for our fishermen and limit their population, also limiting their effect on our other shellfish species. The “Parrot Protection Pals “ are trying to move legislation so parrots that outlive many of their owners are protected with insurance before purchase supporting after-pet owner life care.
The award-winning “Land Sharks” are focused on protecting our Lions of the Sea. Sharks are at the top of the food chain in the sea and while their reputation does not make them cute and cuddly, they are one of our biggest allies in healthy fish populations. Some sharks are ending up on the endangered list. One of the main culprits of this decrease in population is bycatch, accidental capture in nets and hooks of deep sea fishing. The Land Sharks’ innovative solution includes a prototype of a magnetic net that would repel sharks. The attached magnets could also retrofit existing nets and hooks. The team talked to many experts at Biomes, Save the Bay, and URI to get their expertise on Shark behavior and existing solutions. The Judges Award is for a team that the judges encounter whose unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit special recognition. The “Land Sharks” showed that they could work together and create an innovative solution to help animals and humans interact without hurting our delicate ecosystem en route to earning the coveted award.
For complete results from Saturday’s events, please visit http://www.risf.net/
All four of Our Lady of Mercy Teams qualify at First Lego League Qualifying Tournaments!
First Lego League provides youths with an introduction to Robotic Engineering and real-world problem-solving skills. Each team that competes must design a solution to a real-world scientific issue and program a robot to perform lego mechanism missions autonomously in a timed competition. This year's theme is Animal Allies all four of Our Lady of Mercy's First Lego League Teams have qualified for the state Championship.
Team Crabby Crew received second place in the Robot Game at the Narragansett Pier Middle School Qualifier. The team's project finds a solution to the Asian Shore Crab invasion in our bay. They are working to educate local fisherman on the benefits and uses of harvesting this invasive species, controlling the population and turning a problem species into a benefit for all.
The Parrot Protection Pals team wishes to educate the public on the captivity of Parrots as pets. Parrots outlive many of their owners and they hope to create legislation that requires pet owners to take on the responsibility of caring for their Parrots prior to purchase. They visited the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary and Foster Parrots LTD where over 400 exotic birds live.
Team Land Sharks are trying to reduce the amount of sharks killed from bycatch. Through research and visits from local experts, these students have found that shark populations are diminishing at a rapid rate. To keep our Ocean food chain healthy and in balance, sharks need our help. In New England, many livelihoods depend on fishing and our students think they have a solution that is helpful to sharks and easy to adapt by current deep sea fishermen and women. They have engineered a prototype that can be retrofitted onto existing nets/hooks. These students believe they can repel the shark's electroreceptors (ampullae de Lorenzini) using these magnetic "dots" .
The Microchip Megalodons are trying to save our Tree Swallow friends. Many say watching swallows in the sky is like watching a ballet! People flock to migration sites to watch these birds perform their natural sky dance. Some are facing a bit of a problem, however. They have found homage in an invasive species of phragmites. The Microchip Megalodons have designed a way to get rid of the phragmites without disturbing the tree swallows home. Using the school's 3D printer they have made a model of a new bird condo that can house the same thousands that now live in the phragmites.
These four teams and their coaches Mariola Nowak, Pam Burdon, Arthur Wiess, Greg Wind, Ray Andraka, and Bea Lukens have done an excellent job! Wish them luck at the State Championships If you would like to see them perform the event takes place on January 14 at Roger Williams University.
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