Team Equilibrium

Competition day dawned and J was up bright and early to leave for the MTN Science centre with his team mates. Yet again, they had stayed up until about 10.30 pm fine tuning their robot. We got there just before the opening ceremony. One of the team members did a spectacular ramp onto the stage on his bike. The tension mounted as they went into a side room to be judged on their robotics. The judges were highly impressed with their original robot that they ditched in favour of the robot the made this week. They came out feeling pretty confident and went into the pit area to practice on their runs. Tension was high and I think we were all running on adrenaline!

Team practice area.

J and J (in fact, all the team members initials are J.....so the should have been called the J team!) manned the table twice before lunch with the robot for their timed rounds.They had to do a total of three timed rounds for the competition. They did well and there were shouts of joy and much cheering as the robot performed the assigned tasks.

The real timed deal.

The team was approached for input by some guys who are developing software that will allow for more efficient programming of the robots. This was a real boost for the team. As we went off to feed the hungry team, spirits were high as they were tied in second place at lunch time.

Lunch break.

They had also done their presentation on their research project before lunch so the last task was another timed round at the tables. It was great to see so many other home-ed families there who came to support the team


The boys handled the whole task of manning the table with confidence and they worked well together under pressure.

The teams were finally called up for the award ceremony and they received medals .

We are not sure of how it all happened as they had been in such a good place before lunch, but the team did not get any trophies. They came away feeling disappointed after all the hard work they had put into this event.

One thing I am proud of is that they refuse to be defeated and they are determined to come back next year and give it a shot again!

Fun School and Keepers

While J has been hard at work with the Lego league this week, we have been taking it a little easier at home. K was not too well for the first the first part of the week, feeling rather fluey and running a temperature.

We managed to get a fair amount of reading done and later in the week K did some baking for the Lego team. They enjoyed her choc chip cookies and vanilla muffins.The kids also had great fun seeing how many steps they could clock up on a pedometer this week. It was delivered free of charge through our medical aid company.

We had some making pterosaur fossils after completing that section in our Zoology.

The children also completed their frog lap books for their study on amphibians.

We had great fun on Friday afternoon when the Keepers group met again. My dear talented friend taught us how to make felt hearts. They can be used as Christmas decorations or just to pretty up a door or cupboard handle. They can be scented with essential oils too. I also thought they would make rather good pincushions!

The girls did a great job! Mine are the two red ones. I just love learning how to make something I have never made before.

K made another one last night to decorate her bedside table.

Team Equilibrium

As the countdown to Saturday has begun, I thought I should share some of the posts from the teams blog in case you have not been able to follow yourself....

The purpose of FLL is that kids will learn about environmental or community issues and use the Lego competition as a way to have a bit of fun while expanding their brains.When it comes to the robotics we learn a lot about mechanics and design. We learnt a lot this year about what doesn't work - it's like Tomas Edison who found 99 ways not to make a light bulb before he found the way to do it! Well we learnt many ways that our robot would not work until Tuesday night when we rebuilt it and now have a super robot that is breezing through the challenges.But with the project we had to find a problem related to transport in our community. We then had to find a solution to this problem. For the last 6 weeks we have been working on the solution. We identified the problem quite quickly for our age group - cycling in the road. We sent out a questionnaire to 200 parents and got 68 replies. only 1 person said they felt that the Cape Town roads were safe enough for their child (aged 14) to ride on. The rest said that because of cars and threats of robbery they wouldn't allow their children to ride on the road.Our solution is a "grass roots" solution, as my mom says. It is easy affordable and do-able for each parent. We don't have to rely on the City of Cape Town to make cycle lanes - although many lives could already have been saved if there were cycle lanes. (BTW plans for lanes are in the pipeline).We are just waiting for our "model" and then we will reveal our solution - so watch this space! We got the "little brothers" to make us a Lego city.

Lego city by the little brothers for the display table.

Here's the promised solution for kids who are reliant on bike transport or just want to get from A - Z on their bikes...to visit a friend, to get some exercise or to get to sport.We all know that the roads aren't a safe place for cyclists. In 2009 we personally know of two men who were killed in car-bike related accidents. Both of these men leave behind wives and young children.Of course parents are concerned about letting their kids bike around the suburbs. Besides cars being a hazard, we also know that South Africa isn't the safest place to live and even in our neighbourhood we hear of incidents where school kids are robbed of their cell phones.So our S.O.K Pack (SAVE OUR KIDS) is a grass roots solution for older children who are reliant in bikes to get around.

Included in the pack is:

~A cool camo reflective jacket (Cape Storm donated the fabric and Freeline printing did the printing, we designed and sewed it)

~A can of pepper spray

~A lego movie DVD

~Bike stickers

~Bike helmet

~2 flashing bike lights

Take a look at how it looks....

One of the team members kitted out in the S.O.K. Pack.

I am so proud of the way these kids have put the minds to the challenge set before them and have been determined to overcome all the obstacles they have faced. Today was another long day for them. J was gone at 08h30 and only home at 22h30! A tired but happy kid!

At home

With the wind that blows in the Cape at this time of year, we needed to do some chopping of branches. This tree, near the back of the house, has been keeping me awake at night as the branches lash against the roof just above our bedroom! If I gave him the chance, E would chop the whole thing down but I love the shade it provides in the heat of summer, and I love to watch the children swing from or climb it. More recently we have enjoyed watching the birds that come and eat from our various feeders in the tree.

Z with one of the offending branches! Lets hope that solves the sleepless nights!

A late night...

J and his team are refusing to be defeated. Their robot had been giving them problems and with just a couple of days to go before the competition day, they decided to buy and build a new robot from scratch at about 7 pm last night!
He came home for a quick bite to eat and was back to work with the team until about 10pm last night. Up early and there all day again today. Thankfully they made fantastic progress and the robot is doing what they need it to do! Tonight they had the night off. The big count down to Saturday's competition has begun!

Team Equilibrium

Team Equilibrium

J is working long hours with his team for the upcoming competition on Saturday. He is doing minimal school work and leaving mid morning to go and work with his team on their robot. Last night he left for karate, home for a quick shower and supper and then back to work on the robot.

The team got their T-shirts and caps this week and they really look great!

The competition will be held in the MTN Science Centre on Saturday from 9.30 til 3.00pm. The entrance fee is R5 pp for the day.

If you are able, please come and support them. Look out for the black T-shirts and caps!

You can follow the last week countdown on their blog: http://fll-cape-town.blogspot.com/

Greenpoint Stadium

Thought my mum and sisters would enjoy seeing the stadium all lit up as they're no longer in our much loved home town.