The Coral Protectors, a team from the Northome 4-H Robotics after-school program, competed at the regional robotics competition at Bemidji Sanford Center before moving on to the sectional robotics competition.
Learn more about their coral saving project in their own words.
In Coral Protectors team’s own words
Our robotics team, the Coral Protectors, is working on making an impact on other people by sharing a bit of our research project with the community and on the safety of coral reefs.
We started by finding a problem and solution that fit this year’s “Submerged” theme.
We thought about how humans can harm coral reefs and did some research that led us to the problem of inexperienced divers harming coral. They are doing this by not paying attention to where they are stepping or diving, leading to coral getting broken.
Another danger to coral caused by humans is people trying to take home coral as a souvenir.
After finding our problem, we worked together and found our solution.
Before diving, people should learn to identify coral and help keep it safe by taking a training lesson. The training would be held by caring volunteers each day at all local beaches that have coral reefs nearby. By doing the training, people will learn about how they can protect the ecosystem.
After finding our problem and solution, we worked on making a skit that showed the importance of coral safety. Once we completed our skit, we practiced and showed it to some of the staff at the school and asked for feedback from them. We received some helpful tips.
Soon after we finished the skit, we went to the regional robotics competition at the Bemidji Sanford Center. All of our hard work and improvements helped us to move on to the sectional robotics competition.
Northome 4-H Robotics is an after-school partnership of Koochiching County 4-H and the Northome Public School offering the First Lego League robotics program to youth in grades 4-8 since 2008.