In this midst of planning for 2019 Hebocon, I was asked to provide a STEM program at a rural elementary school in our library district. I decided to host a mini-Hebocon Tournament for the 4th and 5th grade classes in their gym (roughly 30 kids). The school is 20 minutes from our community library and I can't find it myself, so I took a time-lapse video while the community librarian drove:
The students did not know the topic of that day's project, just that they were going to do something STEM-related. They were so excited to learn that we were holding a crappy robotics tournament. I feel like the word "crappy" is really what sold it for them. Due to time restraints, our 4th and 5th graders worked in groups of 2-3 to design their robot. We followed these modified rules to facilitate the competition. The key changes from how I regularly hold Hebocon:
1. Only 30 minutes to build
2. Work in teams
3. Everyone used a Dollar Tree push car base
4. We gave out one trophy for the team with the highest total points:
1 point=meets entry requirements
1 point= match win
5 points = most destroyed
5 points = Audience Vote
Sample Roster/Score Sheet
Our Mini-Hebocon robots:
The teachers commented on how excited and engaged the students were throughout this project. When the students first heard it was going to be a robot competition, they were very concerned with how to win the tournament. After I explained the point of Hebocon, many of them focused their efforts on creating a robot that would totally fall apart (thus gaining the 5 points for most destroyed) or to make the most attractive car (thus gaining the 5 points for audience choice).
Mini-Hebocon results:
All robots met the build requirements and received 1 point.
The Stick Man in His Car by Team the Blue Group won the most matches (4 points)
Bob by Team Joe was the most destroyed (5 points)
Willy by Team Asame received the audience vote (5 points). Willy also won 2 matches, making it the overall winner of Hebocon.
The icing on the cake is these two students are 4th graders. Their class was so proud to beat out the 5th graders on the competition. :D
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