Festive FIRST LEGO League tournament showcases youngsters’ engineering skills
Almost 500 young students will participate in this year’s Arizona FIRST LEGO League state championship tournament at Arizona State University. Photo: Jessica Slater/ASU; click image to download hi-res version.
Posted December 4, 2012
Hundreds of Arizona middle school students and their robots take on the Senior Solutions Challenge
WHAT
The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Arizona State Championship Tournament
The culminating event of the FLL season, sponsored by ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, draws several hundred people –middle school students along with their teachers, coaches, family and friends from throughout the state to revel in a day of festive competition showcasing youngster’s budding science and engineering skills. Admission is free and open to the public.
Tournament-day activities will be live-streamed on the web at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ASU-Live
More details at http://www.azfll.com/
WHEN & WHERE
Saturday Dec. 8 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Memorial Union Hall (second floor) at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus
See the tournament day agenda at http://www.azfll.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AZ-FLL-State-Tournament-Agenda-2012.pdf
DETAILS
Fifty-six teams of students ages 9 to 14 that were the top performers in 13 recent regional tournaments around the state will gather to put their technical skills to the test with robots they have designed, built and programmed using LEGO MINDSTORMS. They’ll also present their ideas for creatively addressing quality-of-life issues faced by today’s senior citizens. Read more at www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll
In addition, Junior FLL teams (ages 6-9) will display LEGO models and “Show-Me” posters at the FLL State Championship Tournament, and there will be a FIRST Tech Challenge scrimmage for students in grades 9-12. .
Arizona’s state championship tournament winners could earn an invitation to participate in one of the FIRST LEGO League invitational tournaments in the spring in Carlsbad, Calif., Sydney, Australia or Paderborn, Germany.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Almost 500 festively outfitted middle school students on teams being rooted on in the robotics competition by a crowd of teachers, friends and family members
• Custom-built robots spring to life in fast-paced tests of students’ engineering skills
• Presentations of Senior Solutions research projects
• Junior FLL competitors (ages 6-9) display LEGO creations and research project posters
• FIRST Tech Challenge competitors (grades 9-12) demonstrate advanced robotics in action
*Interviews with students, teachers, coaches, mentors and local sponsors available upon request.
To make arrangements on the day of the event for media coverage, contact Joe Kullman at (480) 773-1364 or [email protected] or Patricia Smith at (480) 297-3962 or [email protected]
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ABOUT FIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and more than $12 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC ) and FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC ) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL® ) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL™) for 6 to 9-year-olds. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org. To learn more about the Food Factor Challenge, visit www.FIRSTLEGOLeague.org
ABOUT THE LEGO GROUP
The LEGO Group is a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: “Only the best is good enough.” For more information, visit www.LEGO.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Joe Kullman, [email protected]
(480) 965-8122 direct line
(480) 773-1364 mobile
Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
Arizona State University
http://engineering.asu.edu/
