Texas Computer Education Association
White Oak High School wins second place
in TCEA Annual Robotics Contest
The TCEA 2009 Annual Robotics Contest was held Saturday, May 16, 2009, at Fairmont Junior High School, Deer Park ISD, near Houston.
A total of 128 teams from elementary and secondary schools participated in the contest by designing, collaborating, programming, and competing with robots in a prescribed problem contest and an open-ended invention contest. The teams qualified for the state competition by placing first or second, or selected as a wildcard in area competitions.
Each year TCEA provides its members with the opportunity to explore the impact of robotics. Participating students from elementary and secondary schools design, collaborate, plan, redesign, construct, create, assemble, invent, reinvent, write, present, and compete to see who has developed the smartest robot. The contests vary based on strategies that involve speed, accuracy, sensing objects, and light. A programmable robot is limited only to the imagination of its inventor. TCEA will use a three-round schedule system to determine the winning teams in two divisions.
Students not only have the opportunity to compete in a prescribed problem contest, there is also an open-ended invention contest. Students use marketing, programming, writing, constructing, and presentation skills to find a solution for a problem of their choice.
The students used LEGO Mindstorms robots and were allowed to compete with either RCX or the newer NXT versions.
Judges for the contest come from universities, industries and K-12 education.
For a list of the winning teams and their sponsors’ and students’ names, please refer to the table below. To view photos of the winning teams, go to http://www.tcea.org/StudentContests/Robotics/Pages/slideshow.aspx.
About TCEA
The Texas Computer Education Association is the largest state organization devoted to the use of technology in education. Founded in 1980, the organization has grown to more than 8,000 members and has been a leader in supporting instructional technology throughout Texas and the nation. TCEA’s primary focus is integrating technology into the PreK-12 environment and providing its members with state-of-the-art information. For information about TCEA, visit www.tcea.org. The association’s annual convention and exposition, which is expected to attract 13,000 attendees, will be held Feb. 8-12, 2010, at the Austin Convention Center.
Contacts:
Kathy Sargent, Communications Director; [email protected];
Marisol Valdez, Communications Specialist; [email protected]
| Inventions – Advanced | ||
| Place | Sponsor | Students |
| 1 | Bryan Edwards | Brett Clubb, Callie Hill, Ciara Ihle, Mark Hebert |
| 2 | Desiree Hutchins-Boyett | Katie Billingslea, Kyle Stephens, Tyler Corley |
| 3 | Julie Juneau | Karel Beetge, Matthew Bowman, Thomas Macias, Michelle Geng |