CIS hosted the Singapore First Lego League (FLL) competition at the Lakeside campus on 6-7 February. The Atrium was the centre of the hustle and bustle on the first day as more than 500 students (ninety-two teams) came to take part in this island wide (and regional) event. CIS was represented by 5 amazing student teams who were eager to show their prototype robots in action. CIS also hosted a team of students from Cambodia, the Liger Learning Center, who were delighted to participate in an international competition in Singapore.

On the first day of FLL, teams delivered presentations on the future of learning in schools to a panel of professional judges. Grade 10 Student Reporters, Nianhan and Christine attended presentations on how games can educate children in today’s educational setting. Reporter Nianhan enjoyed watching the iMovie that students had prepared to explain the educational games, while reporter Christine was impressed with the Algebra Game, which has the potential to help students who may be weaker in Maths. Our reporters concluded that educational games are excellent tools that can help to make learning fun, engaging and challenging.

Next was time for some robotics action where students had to remotely control their robots from one end to the other end of the FIRST LEGO® League table. After the robots’ show, it was the teams’ turn to explain their robots’ functioning both in terms of design and mechanics. At the end, the judges asked questions about the making of the robots and students in teams responded as clearly and elaborately as possible.

The Robot Game, the highlight of the FIRST LEGO® League, was on Saturday 7 February. Sixteen official FIRST LEGO® League tables, each with playing field and fifteen missions, were set up for the competition in the Lakeside Gym. The competition started with a call for the first teams. These teams were given one minute to prepare their equipment and to check the correct model placement on the field. The aim for each team was to collect as many points as possible by completing missions within two and a half minutes. The team who collected the most points would win. The atmosphere was, needless to say, charged with excitement and a small amount of tension. Would everything go as planned? This was afterall, a culmination of months of hard work for each team.

Each team was given three rounds to complete the missions, and the best score out of these three was considered final. Saturday’s competitions, although intense, were entertaining as students engaged with each other in dialogue and listened to a wonderful stage performance by Mr. Boon and his student band. Together Mr. Boon and band members sang, played guitar and performed some amazing drum performances!

CIS’s five teams were highly successful at FLL, with three teams walking away with three awards in different categories; best mechanical design, best costume and 2nd runner-up for best presentation.

These accomplishments were the direct result of hard work, collaboration and synergy between the students and their coaches. Our students and coaches worked day and night to prepare for both the robotics challenge and their presentations on the future of learning in schools. Thank you to our student team members, and our dedicated group of coaches ( Mr. Yates, Mr. Sergi, Mr. Boon, Ms. Tweedie, Mr. Westall, and Mr. Cooperman) who guided and supported their teams in a challenging yet rewarding learning journey.