FIRST LEGO League Challenge

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

FIRST® LEGO® League is a global STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) challenge for teams of young people, to encourage an interest in real world themes and develop key skills that are crucial for their future careers. Young people work together to explore a given topic and to design, build and program an autonomous LEGO® robot to solve a series of missions.

FIRST® LEGO® League is for young people aged 9 to 16 years, working in teams of up to 10 students with a supporting adult coach. Each year FIRST® LEGO® League releases a new challenge for the teams. The challenge involves a robot game and a research project, and students will need to demonstrate the FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values throughout all their work. Teams usually have 12 to 16 weeks to work on the challenge before they compete in their chosen regional tournament. At the tournament, teams will be assessed on each of the three parts of FIRST® LEGO® League: 

Robot Game - Teams build a robot using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® kit that they program to autonomously complete a series of missions on a specialised field to score as many points as possible.

Project - Teams must research the annual theme as detailed in the Challenge Document. After exploring different ideas, they will identify one problem related to the theme, design a solution to solve it, and develop a presentation to communicate that solution.

Core Values - Whilst competing, the teams need to demonstrate the FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values which include innovation, teamwork and inclusion. Being respectful and having a great time are central to what makes FIRST® LEGO® League so special.

The champions of the regional tournaments qualify for the National Finals. The top teams from the National Finals will then be invited to compete at the FIRST® LEGO® League World Festival in the USA or at other international FIRST® LEGO® League finals.

Expected outcomes

FIRST® LEGO® League teams will:

  • Research challenges facing today’s scientists
  • Design, build, test and program robots using LEGO® technolog        
  • Apply real-world science and maths concepts
  • Learn and develop critical thinking, team-building, and presentation skills 
  • Participate in tournaments and celebrations
  • Understand and practice Gracious Professionalism®

FIRST® LEGO® League is CREST Accredited
Participants can complete Bronze or Silver CREST Awards whilst competing in the FIRST® LEGO® League.

FIRST® LEGO® League INDUSTRIAL CADETS Accredited
All students competing at a regional FIRST® LEGO® League tournament will automatically receive an EDT Industrial Cadets Silver Award and those teams that qualify for a National Final will receive the EDT Industrial Cadets Gold Award.

To book this activity, please contact:
Andy Robinson-Noades
01438 211 496
firstlegoleague@theiet.org
https://firstlegoleague.theiet.org/

The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Michael Faraday House, Six Hills Way
Stevenage
SG1 2AY
United Kingdom

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How to take part/get started

Single team for regional events:

A team of up to ten members, that will compete in a regional event*. Registration costs £150 + VAT, which includes:

  • 1 x SUPERPOWERED Challenge set (mat and mission models)
  • 1 x Team Meeting Guide (for the coach)
  • 2 x Engineering Notebooks (for the team) and 1 x Robot Game Rulebook (for the team)
Class pack:

FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Class Pack is a version of the international STEM programme that enables a teacher or coach to deliver the programme with a larger group of young people. Class Pack is designed for a group of up to 30 children (between 3-5 teams) and enables every child to take part.

Registration costs £265 + VAT, which includes:

  • 2 x SUPERPOWERED Challenge sets (mat and mission models)
  • 1 x Class Pack Guide (for you)
  • 2 x Team Meeting Guides (for you, containing 12x lesson plan style sessions)
  • 10 x Engineering Notebooks (allows for at least 2 per team) and 5 x Robot Game Rulebooks (allows for at least 1 per team)
  • 30 x LEGO medals and lanyards (one per participant)
  • 1 x Build your own Small LEGO Trophy
In addition:

You will need at least one LEGO® SPIKE™ Prime core and expansion set and a suitable tablet or laptop to run the free software.

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