Blake talked to three kids on the RoboTeam at The School at Columbia University in New York, an independent school for kindergarten through 8th grade. Abraham, 12, Daniela, 10, and Oliver, 10, told Blake what RoboTeam is all about.

Blake: How did each of you get involved in the RoboTeam club at school?

Abraham: I joined in third grade. A friend of mine had a sister who was on the team, and I thought it looked cool so I joined. Also we learned about robotics in second grade science class. I’ve been on the team for four years, but only competed for three. I competed in the rescue category last year.

Oliver: A friend suggested it to me, so I decided to join. This is my second year, and I do the dance category.

Daniela: Some of my friends were doing RoboTeam, so I decided to join. This is also my second year, and I do the dance category, too.

Blake: What’s your favorite part of the club?

Daniela: Performing, because you get to see teams not from your school, and it’s really fun performing in front of a live audience.

Oliver: Competitions, because you get to see all of your practice turn into something.

Abraham: Performing is a good experience. It’s cool to see your work come together.

Blake: Can you explain the three categories?

Oliver: In dance, you have a story and you act it out. You have many choices. The robots are not remote controlled. They’re programmed.

Abraham: Some teams play a song and their robots dance and their people dance, too. There are a lot of guidelines, but it’s pretty simple.

Daniela: What’s fun that you don’t do in any other category is you make costumes for your robot and, depending on what you are doing, for yourself, too. You have to be sure your costume works with your performance.

Abraham: In soccer and rescue you have more of a set goal. It’s more concrete, not as artistic. In rescue you follow a line and rescue a tin can in distress. You have to grab the tin can and move it to an area and move around different obstacles. It’s probably the hardest of the three. You write the program in advance. People in their first year often do dance because it’s a good place to start. As they gain experience maybe they’ll do rescue and soccer.

Blake: What kinds of robots do you build?

Abraham: We build the robots out of things that are similar to Legos. Sometimes they need a bit of extra stability like rubber bands and tape.

Oliver: Robots also have sensors. There are a few sensors, like a distance sensor.

Abraham: They detect the distance from the sensor to the nearest thing in the robot’s path.

Oliver: A distance sensor helps in rescue, because you don’t want to crash into the walls.

Abraham: There’s a light sensor that senses light and dark. There’s also a touch sensor that senses when it’s pressed. The sound sensor measures how loud sounds are. I think there are also color sensors now; they’re brand new. Also there are compass sensors, and they can sense which way the robot is facing. They’re really good in soccer to make sure you don’t score into your own goal.

Oliver: The program that we did last year included the light sensors, because it was a follow-the- black-line, or trace, program. That means the robot stays on a dark line on the floor, and when it finds something light, it stops and does something.

Blake: What is the coolest thing you’ve ever built?

Abraham: Some kids are better at building, some kids are better at  programming, some are good at both. I do more programming. I did build the submarine for the underwater trace, and I’m pretty proud of that.

Daniela: I think that the best thing that I built is Fauna for our dance trace last year. We found part of her, and I did most of the rest of her. It was kind of challenging, but she turned out really good.

Oliver: It actually wasn’t in RoboTeam that I built it; I did this at my house. It was this really complicated robot with lots of gears and stuff.

Blake: How do you come up with your ideas and plan your robots?

Abraham: For dance you’ll come up with an idea for a plot. Then you’ll build the robots based on your plot.

Daniela: There’s really no specific way of choosing what you want to do. This time we couldn’t all decide on something that we wanted to do so it changed a lot. We’re doing this robbery theme where the robots steal a crown.

Abraham: We have to learn to compromise and work as a team.

Blake: What advice do you have for kids who want to join a team or start a club at their school?

Abraham: You need some robots. That can be hard because they’re pretty expensive. We raised money by having bake sales.

Daniela: We also did this thing called RoboTeam lunch. We brought lunch for kids at school to buy. We also make T-shirts and sell them.

Oliver: At first don’t try the most challenging thing. Start at a thing that you can do, and then you can work your way up.

For even more of Blake’s interview with Abraham, Oliver, and Daniela, go here.

What causes hiccups? Are they from something going on in your heart?

Libby
Oregon

Dear Libby:

Hiccups don’t really have anything to do with your heart. Instead, they often happen when people eat or drink too fast or too much. Being excited or tired can cause hiccups, too. Under your lungs there is a large, flat muscle called the diaphragm (DIE-a-fram). It is controlled by the phrenic (FREN-ik) nerve. This nerve tightens and relaxes the diaphragm as you breathe in and out.

But the phrenic nerve sometimes gets jumpy. Then it can make the diaphragm jerk and draw in a rapid gulp of air. When this happens, your vocal cords snap shut and start to vibrate, causing the “hic” sound.

Dear Dr. Cory:

Our daughter has food allergies, so we carry epinephrine at all times in case she should have an anaphylactic reaction. I heard somewhere recently that one dose of epinephrine might not be enough if she has such a reaction. Is this true?

Deborah B.
Ohio

Dear Ms. B.:

A study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that more than one dose of epinephrine was needed with nearly one out of five cases of food-allergy anaphylaxis in children. Almost all of the children who required multiple doses of epinephrine also suffered from asthma. A healthcare professional administered the second dose in 94 percent of the reactions.

Larger studies are needed to confirm the risk factors for severe anaphylaxis and establish how epinephrine is prescribed to children.

Most children and adults now carry a single epinephrine auto-injector to use if a severe reaction occurs. The lead author of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine study, Kirsi M. Jarvinen, M.D., Ph.D., writes, “The recommendation to carry two doses of epinephrine should as minimum be extended to individuals with asthma and significant food allergies.”

Check with your doctor about instructions for when and if a second dose might be needed for your child. However, immediate action is required for a serious allergic reaction. Experts recommend giving the initial dose of epinephrine and calling 911 immediately.  The emergency crew should be informed of the time that the epinephrine was given.  Even if one dose of epinephrine is given the person should still be taken to the emergency room because further treatment, such as a second dose of medication, may be needed.

Allergy experts also recommend that people with allergies wear a medical bracelet or necklace with information about their allergy. And, caregivers, schools, and parents of children’s friends should be aware of a child’s food allergies.

A few moments later, Pack Rat spied an old yo-yo. “That would make a fun swing,” he told himself. “I could hang it from my tree and fly up high. A swing is better than a chair.”

With a twitch of his whiskers, Pack Rat left the rock and began rolling the yo-yo up the hill to his house. Pant! Pant! Pant!Next, Pack Rat’s sharp eyes spotted a child’s old roller skate. “That would make a fast car!” said Pack Rat. “I could zoom down the hill every morning. A car is better than a swing.”

With a twitch of his whiskers, Pack Rat left the yo-yo and began rolling the roller skate up the hill to his house. It was much bigger and harder to push. Grunt! Grunt! Grunt!

As Pack Rat neared the top of the hill, he made another discovery. He found a large pail stuck in the mud. “Oh, that would make a lovely swimming pool!” cried Pack Rat. “I could dive into the water, float on my back, and cool off every night. A swimming pool is better than a car.”

With a twitch of his whiskers, Pack Rat left the roller skate and dug the pail out of the mud. It was a lot bigger than the roller skate, but Pack Rat began rolling it up the hill to his house. Grunt! Grunt! Pant! Pant! Pant!

CLANK! Pack Rat crashed his pail into a stump! Down, down the hill he tumbled with the pail. They tumbled past the roller skate, the yo-yo, and the black rock and landed in a heap at the bottom.

Pack Rat slowly brushed himself off. He was sore and tired. Then he saw the round, black rock and smiled. “Sometimes a fine chair is all you need,” he said.

With a twitch of his whiskers, Pack Rat rolled the round, black rock up the hill to his house and he didn’t stop to trade his treasure for anything.

You Will Need:

• 8 egg whites

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• 8 thick slices whole-wheat bread

• 2 teaspoons powdered sugar

• ½ cup maple syrup

Directions:

1. In a glass or ceramic bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk to combine.

2. Ask an adult to heat a nonstick frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Drop a bit of water onto the pan. If it sizzles, the pan is hot enough.

3. Dip the bread into the egg-white mixture. Coat each side evenly.

4. With an adult’s help, set each slice of coated bread into the pan. Cook until both sides are golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.

5. Serve two slices of French toast to each person with powdered sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Nutrition facts (1 serving = 2 slices of French toast): 242 calories, 2 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 382 mg sodium, 42g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 14 g protein.

My plan backfired.

“I see you hiding back there, Jake,” Mr. Morgan called. “Why don’t you lead us off?”

Alexander stepped aside. “Busted,” he said, smirking.

I felt my face get hot as I stood before home plate. All of my classmates watched, wondering if I would, for once, make contact with the ball instead of totally whiffing it. Beth Cooper flashed me one of her pretty smiles and gave me a thumbs-up, which made me feel a tiny bit better.

When Mr. Morgan reached the center of the gym he turned back toward me, the kickball raised to his chin. “Don’t get too nervous,” he said. “We’re not keeping score today. This is just for fun.”

Fun? As if being humiliated in front of my entire class could ever be fun!

And then, before I could worry about it anymore, the red, rubber ball was rolling straight at me, bouncing along the floor. For a second I almost panicked and dove for the nearest exit. Instead, I stood my ground, drew back my left leg, and swung my foot forward as hard as I could.

The ball shot past Mr. Morgan’s head like an out-of-control cannonball. I had done it! I had successfully kicked the ball!

Mr. Morgan stared at me and shook his head in amazement.

I stared back at him.

“Don’t just stand there!” Beth yelled. “Run the bases!”

I shook off my surprise and sprinted as hard as I could toward the first base. I stepped onto the flat marker and put my hands on my knees, exhausted but safe. I lifted my head, expecting to hear cheers. Instead I heard laughter.

“No way! He ran to third instead of first!” Alexander called. He grabbed his sides because he was laughing so hard.

I looked at Mr. Morgan, disappointed in myself.

“I can’t believe it,” Alexander continued. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Not so fast, Alexander,” Mr. Morgan said. “Normally, you’d be right.”

Alexander stopped laughing. “Normally?” he repeated.

“That’s right,” Mr. Morgan continued. “But, as Jake must already know, today is Opposite Day.”

“That doesn’t sound like a real day.” Alexander said. “Are you sure you didn’t make it up?”

“It happens every year,” Mr. Morgan said with a grin. “Better check your calendar.”

Beth clapped and cheered. “Way to go, Jake!” she called. “I love Opposite Day!”

I stood up straight and tall and waved back to her.

My classmates and I decided to spend the rest of that P.E. class running the bases the wrong way. Everyone agreed that it made for a fun change. Even Alexander.