Inverness youngsters aiming to build on success at First Lego League final
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CREATIVE youngsters from Inverness are heading to the Scotland-wide First Lego League final after impressing with their future vision of the city.
Ness-E-city and Urban Legends, who came first and second in the recent regional final of the competition, are both members of My World of Work Live’s Lab Rats group. Holm Primary team The Holmies came third.
An approved Lego Education programme, My World of Work Live, runs after-school STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) clubs twice a week at Skills Development Scotland’s Church Street careers centre in Inverness, giving young people the chance to work on interactive activities which inspire them to find out more about future jobs critical to Scotland.
My World of Work Live engagement adviser Ashley Healy, who mentors Ness-E-city, said: “The team based their project around electric cars, presenting plans to take over Station Square, allowing those bringing their cars into the city to park and re-charge.
“All the teams also took part in a robot-building exercise, and had to show team-building skills, social and political awareness, as well answering questions from the judges.
“The young people were all fantastic, I think it was tough for the judges to pick their winners.”
First Lego League involves groups worldwide testing their mechanical, building and computer skills by designing, building and programming their own robots using Lego Mindstorms technology and aims to help young people broaden their understanding of STEM careers and see how they can apply STEM skills in the real world.
My World of Work Live STEM engagement graduate intern, Amy Healy, mentors Urban Legends.
She said: “The focus for the team was to look at ways to take pollution out of the city centre.
“Their plan included taking over the old swimming pool area [in Glebe Street] to build an urban farm which would include gardens, education facilities and a café. The whole project was sustainable.”
Teams are responsible for researching their projects and have to pull together presentations looking at logistics and the impact on the local area. The Scottish final takes place in Perth tomorrow, with 24 teams from across the country taking part.
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