Owyhee's "Gear Masters" Bring Home Trophy
All Mars NASA Rover Teams Come Home with Medals!
Boise, ID --04/22/2015 -- Elementary and middle schools across Idaho from Sand Point, Twin Falls, Mountain Home, Jerome, Bruneau Township, Fruitland, Nampa, Notus, Eagle, Boise, and Pocatello brought students in grades 4th, 5th and 6th to compete in Idaho State University 's Idaho Tech Mars NASA Rover Challenge in Twin Falls this past weekend. Twenty-one teams: three middle schools, six public elementary schools, one private Catholic school and one STEM academy competed in this challenge. The Mars NASA Rover teams competed in nine events: Team Presentation (15 pts) Poster Display (10 pts) Lab Notebook (20 pts) Martian Rock Collection (15 pts), Blind Driving (10 pts), Hill Climb (10 Pts), Rover Speed (10 pts), and Rover Weight (10pts), and Overall Points (100 pts).
All four of Owyhee's teams participated and completed all eight events. Every one of Owyhee's teams did exceptionally well in their first robotics competition!
One of the 5th grade teams, The Gear Masters, earned the highest score in the Rock Collection competition and brought home a trophy for Owyhee-Harbor Elementary School. The Gear Masters designed the most innovative and efficient scooper to pick up the five different colored "Mars rocks" and received the highest score to win this event.
Many of Owyhee's teams were a fraction point away from winning an event. The Hypersonics missed the Lab Notebook challenge only by .5 points. Every one of Owyhee's Mars NASA Rover teams did a fantastic job in the Team Presentation challenge. The drivers, assistants and emergency mechanics who participated in the Blind Driving, Hill Climb, and Rover Speed competition performed remarkably well under intense pressure.
One of the parents summed up the entire experience by saying, "You know what's great about this competition?. It's somewhat like a sporting event where teams compete with each other, but what makes this event special is that it's an academic competition! It's a competition where kids get immediate feedback on their effort and the work they have done."
Everyone-students, parents and Ms. Yolanda Gonzales (Owyhee Science Teacher) --learned so much from participating in the Mars NASA Rover Challenge. "We were all in awe and felt very proud of how each team was able to concentrate, persevere, problem-solve and demonstrate their skill and agility while performing difficult feats in front of an audience and under tremendous pressure, said Ms. Gonzales.
"The comradery, the fun and laughter we shared throughout this project made us all appreciate and understand the importance of building a bridge where students, parents and teachers can work side-by-side and provide our students with real life hands-on experiences that they can use throughout their lives."
Below are some photos from the competition.
