Irving students create robots, biodegradable Legos for state contest

April 16, 2025

Irving Middle School students used their ocean-sized creativity to collect successful results at a state robotics and project innovation contest.
 
Members of the Irving Robotics Club competed in the First Lego League (FLL) Challenge State Championships this spring. Seventh graders Marcus, Greta, Fletcher, MayLynn, Jaxon and Kenzie and sixth graders Sydney and Graydon applied their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) knowledge throughout the tournament. Judges evaluated teams on their ability to build and code robots, create innovative solutions to real-world problems and show sportsmanship to other students.
 
Marcus and Fletcher said everyone on the Aquatic Androids team enjoyed their time at the tournament. Eighty-nine groups from all corners of the state traveled to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for events. All students in grades 4-8 are eligible to compete in Nebraska FLL Challenge contests.
 
“It’s fun because there’s nothing else really like it, a robotics competition,” Marcus said. “You just get to hang out with all of your friends and team members and see how you do against other teams.”
 
“I definitely enjoyed seeing all of the other teams,” Fletcher said. “I thought it was really cool to see what other people are doing, because this is just what we do. To see other people who like to do robotics too was really fun.”
 
Irving teacher Lindsey Brown sponsors the robotics club and helps the Aquatic Androids throughout the school year. She said it was impressive watching the eight students figure out problems and speak about their solutions.
 
“They like to do this,” Brown said. “It’s one of the most articulate groups I’ve ever taken to a First Lego League competition. They’re really good.”
 
FLL organizers release a new competition theme each year that is based on real scientific challenges. The theme for 2024-25 was “Submerged,” which meant students had to use their STEM and teamwork skills to explore life in the ocean.
 
One of the main parts of the FLL contest was designing and building a Lego robot. The Aquatic Androids wrote computer code so their robot would follow pre-programmed instructions. Once this was accomplished, the team placed its robot on a detailed ocean map so it would operate autonomously to complete different tasks. No remote controls of any type were allowed during the state competition.
 
Teams scored points based on how many missions their robot could successfully accomplish. For example, one FLL challenge involved having the robot grab pieces of Lego-built krill and “feed them” to a Lego whale on the map. The 15 possible missions were worth different point values based on their difficulty level.
 
Sydney said it was interesting to learn how teams from other schools constructed their robots. Everyone used a prescribed FLL Challenge kit that included mission models, electric motors and sensors and hundreds of Lego pieces.
 
“We got a lot of ideas from other teams’ robots, so we can use those next year,” Sydney said. “We found new ways to do challenges, and there were new things we can try building, but just building them in a different way.”
 
A second part of the contest was completing a project innovation challenge involving ocean-related problems. Team members were concerned about the rising amount of plastic pollution in oceans, and they wanted to create a biodegradable alternative to plastic.
 
Greta, Marcus and MayLynn led the project and used a 3D printer to form Lego molds. They then engineered biodegradable Lego pieces out of flour, water and sugar. They began the process in early December and created their successful pieces in early March.
 
“It was mostly trial and error,” Marcus said. “If something worked from one of our failed prototypes, then we would try to make another set out of it.”
 
“There were three or four generations of 3D-printed molds that they went through,” Brown said. “Each mold became more accurately like a Lego, and then they tested their solutions inside of it. They learned a lot.”
 
Greta, Marcus and MayLynn then presented their work at the state contest. They spoke about the research and development process and showed their 3D molds and biodegradable plastic to judges. Greta said it was a good experience to share what they had learned over the previous few months.
 
“All of the staff who were there were really nice, so that really helped calm our nerves,” Greta said.
 
Judges also watched students to see if they demonstrated positive core values such as sportsmanship and gracious professionalism throughout the state trip. Irving displayed this to many elementary students who were attending a non-competition portion of the event.
 
The Aquatic Androids raised money for the contest through a Fund a Need platform from the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools. Community members provided funds to pay state registration fees and purchase supplies to build a practice table for the robot games.
 
All of the Aquatic Androids have been friends since elementary school and enjoy solving robotics problems. They are planning to return to state next spring carrying an ocean-sized amount of experience and eagerness.
 
“We plan to do the same thing next year, and we think we’ll do so much better,” Marcus said. “We already did pretty well this year, especially with our robot and project innovation, so we’re really excited for next year.”
 
Visit home.lps.org/science, home.lps.org/cte/cs and home.lps.org/math to learn more about STEM-based classes that are helping LPS students.
 
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