UCS students storm through Thunderquest

Students and parents from Bemis Junior High School - the Thunderquest Grand tournament winner - cheer on their robot.

Utica Community Schools teams stormed through the annual Thunderquest robotics tournament.

UCS students represented more than half of the teams that earned honors at the regional First Lego Robotics event.

Teams receiving honors at the event were:

UCS Teams advancing to state

• Bemis - Green Eggs and Ham
• Beck/Shelby - Robo Phoenix
• Harvey - Jack Harvey Gearheads
• Crissman- Disco Donuts
• Crissman - The Bad Apples
• Roberts/Malow- Robo Rovers
• Schuchard- Schuchard Thunder Stallions
• Dresden - Dresden Robodragons 

Teams receiving special awards and trophies

• Bemis Junior High School - the Thunderquest champion, Grand tournament winner, and highest scoring robot
• Beck Elementary/ Shelby Junior High - 1st place, Innovation and Strategy
• Harvey Elementary - 1st place, Innovative Solution
• Dresden Elementary - 2nd place, Mechanical Design
• Crissman Elemetnary - 2nd place, Innovation and strategy
• Morgan Elemenary - 1st place, Presentation
• Schuchard Elementary - 2nd place, Programming
• Switzer Elementary - 2nd place, Innovative solution
• Roberts Elementary /Malow Junior High - 2nd place, Presentation
• Roberts Elementary (team #2 Lego Legends) - 2nd place, Team work
• Crissman Elementary (Team #2 Veggieing it Up) - 2nd place, Gracious Professionalism

First Lego Robotics introduces younger students (ages 9-14) to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FLL teams annually compete under a theme, which this year’s challenge being “Food Factor.”

In the 2011 Food Factor Challenge, over 200,000 students from over 55 countries will explore the topic of food safety and examine the possible points of contamination our food encounters – from exposure to insects and creatures, to unsterile processing and transportation, to unsanitary preparation and storage – then find ways to prevent or combat these contaminates.

The Thunderquest tournament featured several competitions, including a tech presentation where students create an autonomous robotic vehicle that will follow a course on a 4X8 table. Students also competed in teamwork challenges and a display project that described their solution for issues identified in the Food Factor theme.