Today, is the start of the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival, which is an international robotics competition organized by FIRST for elementary and middle school students using LEGO® Mindstorms®. FIRST, an acronym for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” is an international non-profit public charity headquartered in Manchester, NH designed to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology, and to motivate them to pursue education and career opportunities in STEM fields.
This year in St. Louis, Missouri, the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival is showcasing 108 1st Place Champion’s Award-winning teams from around the world. They are selected through a lottery based process from eligible Regions. There is only one Canadian team competing in St. Louis this year and they are called “Les Huskies” from Quebec City, QC. We wish them good luck.
In 2015-16, there were 29,000 teams that competed in FLL competitions around the world totaling about 233,000 participants. In Newfoundland & Labrador, the FIRST LEGO League (FLL-NL) Provincial Competition was held on November 28, 2015 at the College of the North Atlantic in partnership with Skills Canada. The competition had 21 teams from Grades 6 – 9 from all parts of the province compete in the Trash Trek Challenge.
The Trash Trek Challenge consisted of three parts: the Robot Game, the Project, and the Core Values. Teams of up to ten children, with at least one adult coach, participate in the Challenge by programming an autonomous LEGO® Mindstorms® robot to score points on a themed playing field (Robot Game), developing a solution to a problem they have identified (Project), all guided by the FIRST LEGO League Core Values.
Bricks 4 Kidz® is a strong supporter of the FIRST LEGO League robotics competition in Newfoundland & Labrador. Many of the students involved in the Bricks 4 Kidz® Program gain a strong foundation and continue to be involved in the FLL competition. It would be great to see students in future years compete in the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival.