STEMporium teams enter international robotics competition
Three coding club teams from The Great STEMporium are set to compete in the Wonder League Robotics Competition.
STEMporium co-founder Cari Miller said local elementary school students and homeschooled students comprise the clubs, which launched in the fall to teach students how to program robots using an educational coding language called Blockly, invented at MIT.
“The language is a visual-based coding language that helps kids learn foundational coding skills, including sequencing, loops, events, conditions, functions and variables,” Miller said. “These coding skills are invaluable to just about every job of the future.”
The Wonder League Robotics Competition is an online competition that receives code and video submissions from teams worldwide who must complete five missions with increasing difficulty. Each mission involves coding as well as creative design engineering challenges, said David Stobie, STEMporium co-founder and robotics coach.
“The kids learn more than just coding and problem-solving,” Stobie said. “They learn important social interaction and teamwork skills, too.”
Riley Walker of Team Aqua Slinger said, “It was really hard figuring out how to get traction on the bridge so the robot didn’t slip.”
The competition’s first round closes Jan. 21.
“The teams should hear if they make the next round by early February,” Miller said. “Top prize is $5,000. Either way, the STEMporium Coding Club teams have worked incredibly hard and can be very proud of what they’ve accomplished.”
For details, contact Miller at info@GreatSTEM.com.
