Transitions in a Story: Rover Race Day

Rover Race Day

1For six weeks, our robotics club had been building a rover out of two small motors, four rubber wheels and an old plastic lunch tray. On the morning of the school's Rover Race, Ava, Mateo and I carried it into the gym in a cardboard box. Ten teams sat at long tables, and the race course was marked on the floor with bright blue tape.

2First, every team had to pass a safety check. A judge with a clipboard looked over our wires and nodded. After that, we had twenty minutes to practice. Mateo steered the rover with the remote control while Ava timed each lap on her watch.

3Halfway through practice, a front wheel popped off and rolled under the bleachers. Ava crawled after it on her hands and knees. Meanwhile, I dug through our toolbox for a tiny screwdriver, and Mateo held the rover steady. Within a few minutes, the wheel was back on, tighter than before.

4Before long, it was our turn to race. The rover zoomed down the first straight line and turned the first corner perfectly. Suddenly, it stopped in the middle of the course. The whole gym went quiet. Mateo pressed the buttons over and over, but nothing happened. Then I spotted the problem: the battery wire had come loose. The judge let me step onto the course and push it back into place.

5Seconds later, the rover hummed back to life and rolled across the finish line. We did not win the race, but at the end of the day, the judges gave us a ribbon for the best quick repair. That night, I taped the ribbon above my desk. The next morning, our team met before school to make a list of ways to keep every wire in place.