First Lego League RI State Tournament Coming This Weekend
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
LEGO's are never more cool than at the FIRST LEGO League competitions, where kids use them robotically to solve research and science problems. The RI finals are this weekend at Roger Williams University.
It's LEGO time in Rhode Island this coming weekend, as more than 300 local youth will test their robot design and programming skills at the 12th annual FIRST®LEGO® League Robotics State Championship event at Roger Williams University. The event will be on Saturday, January 14, from 11am to 4pm. It's open to the public, and everyone is invited.
Science and problem-solving
The tournament marks the culmination of months of scientific research and problem solving among 40 student teams, ages nine to 14. Teams collaborated to build a LEGO-based robot and complete a research project related to this year’s theme, “Senior Solutions”. The robots will compete head to head in The Robot Game, a series of obstacles on a game field made of LEGO elements, and present the Innovative Solutions they’ve created to improve the quality of life for seniors.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTCongressman Jim Langevin will also be on hand to address the competitors and oversee the intense competition that will name a state champion team.
FIRST LEGO League
FIRST LEGO League actively engages almost 500 Rhode Island students every year in designing, building and programming a robot to compete for points on a game table. Kids who are 9-14 years old love to tinker, and they get excited about building and programming a robot out of LEGO elements that moves all by itself.
By giving FIRST LEGO League an annual theme that’s tied to a research project, the project increases scientific literacy by challenging the kids to understand the problems and to create their own solutions. This year’s annual theme, Senior Solutions, is about using science, technology and engineering to help people stay active and healthy as they age.
Kids are encouraged to find experts to interview for the research element of the project, and when they meet people who make science come alive, they see how science, technology and engineering improve the lives of people they love. Then, they want to learn more.
After a 6-8 week season of building a robot to compete on the pre-built game table and creating a research project, teams compete in December's high-energy qualifying tournaments where their robots and projects are evaluated by teams of science, technology, engineering and math professionals. Forty teams advance to the State Championship in January 2013.
FIRST LEGO League State Finals, Saturday, January 14, 11am-4pm, Roger Williams University, Bristol.
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