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Young Middle Students Explore Earth's Climate

Photo from Young Middle Magnet School

The Energy Elites team - Andrew Argudo, Daryl Bagley, Darrian Bagley, Ryan Kehrmeyer, Mathias Madray, Graham Peterson, Thomas Prether and Michael Schutte - compete in Mega Meltdown, a qualifying tournament for Florida’s FIRST Lego League, on Dec. 13 at Young Middle Magnet School in Tampa.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2009

Mega Meltdown, a qualifying tournament for Florida's FIRST Lego League, was held Dec. 13 at Young Middle Magnet School in Tampa.

FIRST is an international organization that promotes interest and excitement in science and technology.

Lego League teams are made up of young people ages 9 to 14 who are interested in science and technology. This year's challenge, called Climate Connections, encourages exploration of the Earth's climate to discover links between science, people, resources and communities.

Principal Lynn Roberts of USF/Patel Partnership Elementary and robotics coach Rich Berglund, a Bloomingdale resident, organized the tournament with the help of more than 50 volunteers and several corporate sponsors. The event drew 27 teams from throughout the state hoping to advance to the regional tournaments in Tampa or Orlando Jan. 31. Teams that perform well at regionals go on to a state tournament at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.

TechPlayzone, a science and technology center in Riverview, sponsors robotics teams each year.

This year's team, called Energy Elites, studied the effects of climate on coral reefs. Six team members are students from Alafia, Cimino and FishHawk Creek elementary schools and Burns Middle School. The two others are home-schooled students.

The boys meet at TechPlayzone twice a week to research their topic, plan their presentation, design their robot and program it to complete missions. The Energy Elites earned the Programming Award at the Meltdown tournament and gained a spot in the regionals.

For information about FIRST Lego League, visit www.firstlegoleague robotics.org. For information about TechPlayzone or to participate in a future robotics team, call (813) 684-7329 or visit www.techplay zone.com.

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