Smart glasses put this team in the top ten
Friday, February 15, 2013 by: SooToday.com Staff
NEWS RELEASE
HURON-SUPERIOR CATHOLIC
DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
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Holy Cross First Lego League Team among the best in the Province
SAULT STE. MARIE - Trustees for the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (HSCDSB) had a chance to see one of the top First Lego League (FLL) teams in the province in action at Wednesday night’s monthly Board meeting.
Members of the Holy Cross Chaos team which finished seventh out of forty teams at the FLL Provincial-West championships at the University of Waterloo last month showed HSCDSB Trustees what the FLL competition is all about.
Part of their presentation was a demonstration of the routine they had to program on the FLL play surface.
The theme of the 2012-13 competition was “Senior Solutions” which meant teams had to research specific challenges faced by seniors every day.
Team Chaos chose macular degeneration, a medical condition which results in the loss of vision in the centre of the visual field because of damage to the retina.
“The students involved were able to develop impressive problem-solving skills by programming robots to do specific tasks, as well as develop essential teamwork skills as they worked cooperatively to research and present a technical solution to a real-world problem,” said Holy Cross Grade 8 Teacher Claudia Greco.
Team Chaos’s solution to this irreversible issue was “MacD Glasses”, which would integrate hearing aids and special glasses with a smart phone.
The glasses would scan QR (Quick Response) codes on products and through a smart phone it would then read the information to the user through the earpieces.
Team Chaos was one of two teams from Holy Cross that participated at the local FLL competition hosted by Sault College.
For the provincials the two teams were melded into one.
The students learned that teamwork was essential to put together a successful presentation.
“Sometimes my expectations got too high and sometimes things got harder, but when I used teamwork things got easier,” said Grade 6 student Diamond Thibault.
“At the local competition I was nervous at first, but then I released how we all cooperated and it all worked out, so I got less nervous,” said Grade 8 student Joel Kahtava.
While FLL promotes learning, it is also an avenue for students to be exposed to a team environment where the sum of all the parts results in a cohesive unit.
“All of the students involved were very committed, spending a minimum of four hours a week after school and on weekends. They learned important interpersonal skills in addition to the research, presentation, and programming ones,” added Greco.
“It was very good. I liked the team. Everyone was cooperative and I met a lot of new friends,” said Grade 8 student Parker Simpson.
Team Chaos is already thinking ahead to next year and welcoming new team members as the older students move on to secondary school.
The team would like to thank Coaches Bill Polnick, Jonathon Budau and Ms. Greco for their dedication, the HSCDSB for helping with expenses to go to the provincials and of course the Holy Cross staff and their fellow students for their support.
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