Heads Up for The Weekend

A couple of fun things coming up for this weekend for kids so put them on your calendar.

First up, the FIRST FRC Seattle Regional which is a high school robotics competition.  It's March 18th and 10th (Friday and Saturday) at Qwest Field Event Center, from 9-4 pm (with a lunch break for the participants from noon to 1 p.m.) It's free to the public.

 From the website:
Event is for all ages. Self guided Robot Pit tours are available, but closed toed shoes will be required (no sandals or open footwear). Eye protection is required and available for loan. Baby strollers not allowed in Robot 'Pit'.

Seattle is represented by teams from Franklin High, Ballard High, Nathan Hale and Cleveland High.   They are looking for volunteers if you are interested in helping out.

Also to note, students from Coe Elementary will competing in a national robotics contest using Lego in Carlsbad, California in May. (Not to plug Legoland but it's a far better themepark than most.  More building opportunities, fewer scary rides, and an unbelievable playground.)

Having a hard time imagining robotics at the elementary school level?  Think again. With the help of the Lego Mindstorms systems, kids work together in FLL competitions to solve real world issues — problems such using a robotic unit to rescue victims from, or deliver medical supplies to, a burning/unstable building.  each robotics teams needs not only programmers and kids who like to build with Lego bricks, but also artists, researchers, writers and public speakers. Teams are judged on both their research presentation and their points scoring performance in the game board arena.

Also on Saturday, the first of the Town Hall Saturday Family Concerts.  The Bushwick Book Club with be doing a show around Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends.   Tickets are free to kids 12 and under and $5 for an adult with a kid.  Tickets are required and are at Brown Paper Tickets or 800/838-3006.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hale also has a team participating. This is their first robotics team and was started by two seniors for their senior project. The students have put a huge amount of work into this project and it has been largely student-led--so wanted to be sure Hale got a shout out as well.

Hale parent
3/14/11, 10:05 AM
Greg Linden said…
Minor correction: "March 18th and 10th" should be "March 18th and 19th"
3/14/11, 1:39 PM
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