Do you want to build a robot?
Teams of students were on the clock to build robots out of a pile of Legos.
They started with a computer and a box of a Legos.
Five teams of 7th graders then had one hour to use them to build a robot that could push plastic cups around a board.
A timer at the front of a classroom at Genevieve Melody Elementary School ticked down as they got to work: 55 minutes, 25 minutes, 10.
And finally: “Time’s up!” teachers shouted.
The students clapped and high-fived. On their tables, each team had built a battery-powered robot. Students had used those computers to write code that told their robot’s control unit what to do.
Project SYNCERE instructor Hanan Abdulkareem high-fives 13-year-old Lamia Williams (left) and Timia Kirkman, 12, as Shamauryania Johnson, 12, reaches for their team’s robot. The students were taking part in a robotics competition on Wednesday at Genevieve Melody Elementary School in East Garfield Park. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times)