MAKING MATH COME ALIVE ROBOTICS EVENT SET AT SCHOOL.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - The veteran robotics team from Lancaster High School Lancaster High School may refer to:
Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . The contest will involve smaller, cheaper robot kits rather than the more elaborate machines the team is accustomed to building and competing with. ``We want to try to boost the popularity of this thing and see how it goes,'' said Benji Coleman-Levy, a Lancaster High senior and chief financial officer for the school's robotics team. At least five schools from around Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, have indicated they will field teams at the event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Lancaster High School. The robots will compete in the ``Half-Pipe Hustle hus·tle v. hus·tled, hus·tling, hus·tles v.tr. 1. To jostle or shove roughly. 2. To convey in a hurried or rough manner: hustled the prisoner into a van. ,'' in which they pick up racquetballs and place them in basket goals, Coleman-Levy said. The robot will have to climb a 30-degree slope on each side of the field. The Lancaster robotics team was formed in 1999 to compete in the annual FIRST Robotics Competition The FIRST Robotics Competition is a high school robotics competition organized by FIRST. As of early 2007, 1,303 high school teams of 32,500[1] students from Brazil, Canada, The Netherlands, Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and others compete to . FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology and its aim is to encourage students to become involved in math, science and technology by letting them work with professionals on hands-on projects. ``The reason I like it is it gives students the opportunity to apply what they are learning in school,'' teacher and team adviser Kiley Craft said. ``A favorite comment from kids is they sit in math class, learn stuff and it doesn't compute. In robotics, they learn something in the classroom, then after school when they are building a robot, they are applying what they have learned. It makes it interesting and important.'' With the help of professionals, the high school teams design, assemble and test a robot capable of performing a specified task. To compete is expensive. In 2006, it will cost $6,000 to register and participate in a regional event and get a kit of parts and associated materials and support. Each additional regional event will cost $4,000 more, and the championship event costs $5,000. However, the FIRST Vex Challenge on Saturday is a midlevel mid·lev·el n. The middle stage or level, as in a series, course of action, or career. robotics competition that offers the traditional challenge of a FIRST competition but with a more affordable robotics kit costing $500. The ultimate goal of the Vex Challenge is to reach more young people with a lower-cost, more-accessible opportunity to discover the excitement and rewards of science, technology, and engineering, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. FIRST's Web site. ``Some people are calling it the junior varsity junior varsity n. Abbr. JV A high-school or college team that competes in interschool sports on the level below varsity. Noun 1. level. Lancaster High School is trying to promote robotics. NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. and our sponsors, Northrop and Lockheed, have said there is a lack of engineers currently, that many of the engineers that they have are reaching retirement age,'' Craft said. ``The goal of FIRST is to encourage math and science studies in students.'' At the middle-school level, students build robots made from LEGO blocks. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Lancaster High robotics team members, from left, Justin Ware, Alan Tepe and Benji Coleman-Levy check their robot. (2 -- colro) The Lancaster High robotics team built this robot, and will build another for the upcoming competition. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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