Over 220 elementary, middle, and high school teams have registered to compete in the 2016-2017 Regional Autonomous Robotics Circuit (RARC) Competition 1 this Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Bossier Civic Center.
Public and private schools as well as homeschool and afterschool programs in Bossier, Caddo, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Sabine, and Webster Parishes will be represented.
RARC is a series of three cyber and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competitions for students in grades 3-12. The competitions build upon one another and allow teams to showcase their STEM and 21st Century skills by competing against other teams within their division.
Liberal arts lessons are also integrated to provide a context for the content. The competitions are sponsored by the Cyber Innovation Center’s National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center (NICERC), the City of Bossier City, Bossier Parish Schools, Caddo Parish Schools, and Sci-Port: Louisiana’s Science Center.
The theme for the 2016-2017 RARC competitions is Powering the Future. The challenges require teams to explore a newly discovered, uncharted island with their robots and learn about energy resources.
Additional STEM activities will be offered by Bossier Parish Libraries and Benton High School during the event.
Elementary school teams will compete in the morning beginning at 8 a.m. and will receive their awards at approximately 11:15 a.m. The middle and high school divisions will begin at noon with winners announced at approximately 3:45 p.m. The competition is open to the public and media.
To learn more about RARC, please visit http://nicerc.org/rarc/ or www.facebook.com/CIC.NICERC.
