There are few toys out there that are more popular than Legos. But for a group of Tracy Area Elementary School fifth- and sixth-graders, Legos mean business.

The students — Gavin Fischer, Nolan Gervais, Brice Johnson, Madelyn Elsen, Mayumi Hall, Noah Johnson, Tovin Kainz, Luke Millman, Danica Paulsen and Jaxter Pfarr — are part of the school’s Lego League, an after-school enrichment program that puts students to the test with the iconic building blocks. Last week, the team gave presentations to younger students, showing how technology puts Legos in motion to accomplish various tasks.

“Part of Lego League is working with the robot; the robot is controlled by coding,” fifth- and sixth-grade math teacher Amanda Zeug told a group of second-graders last week. “That’s where (the kids) put information into an iPad, and the iPad tells the robot what to do.”

TAES fifth-grade teacher Lucas Novosad said learning about coding and programming is proof that Lego League isn’t all fun and games.

“This is the hardest part of the program as most of our students start at a novice level,” Novosad said.

See more in this week’s paper!