On Thursday 5th January Linda Oliver, the regional Engagement Officer for Guide Dogs Trust (North East & Cumbria) met with our First Lego League club.

One aspect of the Lego League involves students  learning to program a robot to complete a Lego based obstacle course on the theme of ‘€˜Animal Allies’€™, but the other aspect involves students designing an innovative invention or upgrading a current invention on the same theme. Our students chose to make upgrades to the current guide dog harness in order to add technology to it to improve its usability.

Students have been consulting with visually impaired guide dog owners and Linda brought her guide dog, Zoe, in to meet the students. She demonstrated use of the current harness and consulted with the students on their design. The meeting was a great experience for the students and has led to them making adjustments to their design based on Linda’€™s feedback.

On Friday 13th  January they will compete against other schools in the local area at The Langdale Centre in North Tyneside to complete the obstacle course and they will also deliver a presentation about their invention. Good Luck to all participants!

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