Students Rock Mars Rover Competition
A team of 4th graders from Kings Manor Elementary garnered 1st Place honors in the solar-powered rover division at the Mars Rover Celebration at the University of Houston Saturday, January 30! More than 500 students representing 26 area schools participated in the design and construction of a model of a Mars Rover to carry out a specific science mission on the surface of the red planet. The models had to be either radio-controlled, solar-powered or free form. Kings Manor students Raven Espitia, Tyler Freitas, Mahnoor Hussain and Dylan Wright took home top honors in the solar-powered division. They portrayed themselves as the "Ghosts from Martians Past,” complete with green face makeup, a third eye, and antennae. The team performed a skit for judges about Mars being able to sustain life once again. Their rover, named “Vulcan,” was created to study the soil around a volcano on Mars in hopes of finding more evidence of water and possible organisms deep within the planet.
A team of 4th graders from Valley Ranch Elementary took 3rd place in the same division with “The Mean Green Weather Machine.” Trevont Moore, Timothy Rodriguez, Ryan Woodside, and Liam O'Neill were members. Kings Manor 4th graders Hannah Watkins, Lindsey Doyle, Jacqueline Brown and Chloe Eick picked up 4th place honors.
“Spelunker 2010,” a team of 3rd graders from Aikin Elementary, won 2nd place in the free-form category. The team made up of Ashley Orpen, David Fernandez, Natalie Williamson, and Sophie Wyatt built a main rover and 15 mini-bots to explore the lava tubes on Mars. Kings Manor 5th graders Abbigail Delahoussaye, Saera Durrani, and Lauren Serafini walked away with 4th place.
In the radio-controlled rover category, Kings Manor 4th graders Addison Ruddell, Cameron Hoff, Jonathan Flores and Patrick Mansfield took 4th place.
This was the first year NCISD had participated in the competition. Kings Manor teacher Jill Jones who attended Saturday’s event said, "I was so impressed with all the teams. They worked so hard." Superintendent Kenn Franklin added, “I am very proud of our students and their commitment to the task. They represented New Caney ISD well through their outstanding projects.”
Honorable Mention goes to:
AE Boomerang 240 Team
Blayn Larson, Danielle Grabert, Ja-lynn Smith
KME 5th Grade Team
Carter Jamison, Nathan Ralph, Ammar Naeen
KME 4th Grade Team
Alyssa Carrell, Amanda East, Danica Long, Ricky Fregia, Raees Fowler, Lea Campbell, Justin Cossey
VRE 3rd Grade Teams
"Scorpion" - Chandler Love, Raymundo Maldonado Grajales, Jacob King, Kane Gideon
"Ice Caps" - Matthew Harrison, Julie Lewis, Devon Isaac, Nadia Charlot
"Martian Movers" - Brooke Carmical, Amanda Harrell, Pernell Barker, Kylie Robertson
VRE 4th Grade Teams
"Purple Angels of Science" - Kaitlyn Blackstock, Emily Bush, Cera Sharp, Trinity Valdez
VRE 4th Grade Teams
Trevor Young, William Clampitt, Jacob Carroll, Jeremy Skidgel, Ashtynn Sharp, Serena Gonzales, Caitlin Braun
Erica von Gonten, Kaliev Carrier, Billy Elliott
