High Desert Lego Tournament
The Lancaster High School Eagle Robotics team hosts an annual Robotics High Desert Lego Tournament that helps to bring middle schools together in the name of science. The tournament allows LEGO teams from across Southern California the chance to practice competing with other teams before attending the FIRST LEGO League competition. By letting the students interact with the program they become aware of the rules and regulations as well as getting to know their fellow competitors and their different ways of working. Participating students can compete to win awards based on how well they do in the competition, team spirit, innovation, team work and a research project that is required at FIRST LEGO competitions. This tournament is free to the public and it is beneficial to the students participating as well as the mentors.
VEX Summer Workshop
Every summer, Eagle Robotics has the pleasure of inviting children from
across the Antelope Valley to our VEX workshop. Students from Team 399 teach the kids how to build, program and drive the robots. Each day, we also put on a small presentation about math and science, giving the kids a chance to see how it affects them in the world outside of the F.I.R.S.T. community in the real world.
Eaglets Program
Eaglets are junior members of our team. Middle School students were given the opportunity to participate in our build season workdays. Every Saturday our Eaglets work hands on with our students, advisors, and mentors in helping us build our actual robot. This programs enables the students to prepare for their own FRC experience, as well as learn valuable aspect of science, technology, and the other aspects of the FIRST program.
Special Education Workshops
Eagle Robotics felt it was important to spread science and technology to students who might otherwise never have found it. With no FIRST Lego Team at their disposal, Eagle Robotics decided to show them the excitement of FIRST in an innovative way. For four days team members set up workshops at Piute Middle School, bringing in a new class each day. Students then participated in three stations. At one station, they were able to see how a basic robot was built and programmed with a FIRST Lego Robot. At another station students learned how to drive and race VEX Robots. At the last station students were given the opportunity to participate in our “Design-A-Robot” contest and design and make their own button.
Robot Read-Alouds
On the first Friday of the month at 7:00pm a few Eagle Robotics team members meet at the local Banes and Noble to participate in our Robot Read-Alouds. Children are read a robot story, given a special robot toy, and given the chance to drive two different VEX robots. Robot Read-Alouds have been very successful, with 20-30 kids participating each month.
F.I.R.S.Tales
After finding that young children’s storybooks about robots are few and far between, Eagle Robotics decided to come up with their own solution, write their own. F.I.R.S.Tales is a series of five books entitled Felix Finds Friends, Izzy Gets Involved, Remy Learns to Read, Scout Loves Safety, and Tales of Team Work, which depict the stories of four robot friends. Each book teaches the lesson of one of FIRST’s ideals, gracious professionalism, community involvement, hard work and learning new things, safety, and team work. The stories are accompanied by bendable robots of the characters, as well as buttons and coloring sheets.
LEGO Saturdays
Eagle Robotics hosts a miniature Lego competition. Kids learn how to build, program, and drive a VEX robot. This gives children throughout the area a chance to get involved with F.I.R.S.T.
Elementary and MiddleSchool Presentations
Several students from Eagle Robotics travel to elementary and middle school to demonstrate a robot. It excites students about science and technology and they become motivated to join the robotics team in high school.
