What is FIRST Lego League?
Lego League is an international competition–hosted by FIRST–that challenges elementary and middle school participants to research, propose and present a solution to a real-world problem such as food safety, energy conservation, etc. They must also design, build, and program a robot and compete in a table-top competition.
Not only will participants have loads of fun, they will learn to apply STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) skills in order to solve real-world problems. First Lego League helps participants develop critical-thinking skills, improve presentation skills, and foster collaboration skills.
The sign-up for the First Lego League will begin over Labor Day weekend at Greenbelt Makerspace, click here to learn more!
History of FIRST Lego League
In 1998, Dean Kamen—founder of FIRST (a science and technology nonprofit)—and Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen—owner of the LEGO group—joined forces to create the FIRST Lego League. Both STEM advocates created a meaningful program that allows children to discover the fun in math and science while engaging in playful learning.
How does it work?
Each year, FIRST Lego League releases a challenge based on a real-world environmental, social, or scientific problem. There are three parts to each challenge: the Robot Game, the Project, and the Core Values. Teams program a robot to score points on a table-top playing field (Robot Game), and develop and present their solution for a real-world problem (Project). All parts of the challenge are guided by the FIRST Core Values—discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun! Teams can consist of up to ten children and at least two adult coaches.
Past challenges have been designed around topics such as climate change, transportation, and nanotechnology in order to expose participants to career paths in the science and math fields, as well as help to develop their STEM skills.
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