JOHNSTON — The Machine Magicians, a Dallas County 4-H club, competed with more than 100 other students Sunday in the First Lego League regional qualifying contests at Johnston High School.
The Lego teams competed in building Lego robotic machines that performed predetermined missions. The student teams were judged on their Lego robot game, the robot design, their core values of teamwork and the overall project.
The theme of this year’s competition was hydrodynamics, and each team project proposes an innovative solution to a real-life problem in hydrodynamics. The Machine Magicians won Champion and the Global Innovation Award for their research.
The Dallas County 4-H club is led by Rebecca Smith and Cliff Smith. The Adel-based club has been meeting for three years.
“The kids have been working hard since the beginning of September,” said Rebecca Smith, “and seeing their faces when the awards were announced was priceless.”
Winning teams from the Sunday competition will advance to state competition at Iowa State University Jan. 14.
Karmen Weddle is the office assistant at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach-Dallas County.
