FIRST Lego League Explore (FLLE) (formerly known as FIRST Lego League Jr.) is a non-competitive

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

program designed for children ages six to ten. It is one of the programs established by

FIRST First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

. FIRST Lego League Explore follows the same theme given to the FIRST Lego League Challenge. While FIRST Lego League Challenge teams conduct research projects and design autonomous robots specifically to carry out missions relating to the topic, FIRST Lego League Explore teams conduct much smaller projects and make models out of

Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

elements to illustrate one part of the theme. They may also use Lego Education SPIKE Essential set, a programmable robotics kit, as part of their models. Currently, the program is available in 33 countries.

History

FIRST Lego League Explore started out as a pilot program in 2004 to encourage young children to have interest in science and engineering. In the first pilot year, the teams were provided with some specific Lego parts by FIRST, but that idea was dropped in later years. Teams now use any Lego elements that they have to build the models. The pilot years were done in three phases from 2004 to 2006. The program was officially launched in 2007 during the Power Puzzle season. During the first five years, the program was not referred as a robotic program. The only requirements to build models out of Lego elements were to have some moving parts and include at least one

simple machine A simple machine is a machine, mechanical device that changes the Direction (geometry) , direction or Magnitude_(mathematics) , magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest Mechanism (engineering) , mechanisms that use ...

based on a given topic of that year. FIRST has provided an option to purchase a FIRST Lego League Explore Base Kit that contains many Lego elements including

gear A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

, and other

Lego Technic Lego Technic (stylized as ''LEGO Technic'') is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create advanced models of working vehicles and machines, compared to the simpler brick-building properties of ...

elements. In 2009, with the new robotics kit by Lego Group, the program included Lego WeDo as an optional kitJunior FIRST LEGO League Event Guide
, FIRST - accessed December 23, 2009 which allows children to connect a motor and/or a

sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

to other Lego bricks, gears and other technic elements. It also has

drag-and-drop In computer graphical user interfaces, drag and drop is a pointing device gesture in which the user selects a virtual object by "grabbing" it and dragging it to a different location or onto another virtual object. In general, it can be used to ...

programming interface for children to write robotics programs. The number of participants has been increasing each year.Impact
, FIRST - accessed December 23, 2009 However, the program was limited to the United States and Canada until 2009.

Program details

FIRST Lego League Explore is designed to be a non-competitive and community-based program. The teams are formed within local community and participate in local events. FIRST provides guidelines to help coaches to run their teams and local organizers to run FLLE events. However, FIRST does not organize any FLLE events, unlike other FIRST programs. The program is designed to be flexible; there are no specific dates for the program. Each team may decide when to start the activities and for how long as long as the registration is done within the season calendar which is from August to June each year. A team consists of 2-6 team members. There is an age limit that team members must not be older than 9 as of January 1 of the year the Challenge is released. Although there is no lower bound on age, FIRST suggests that the program is intended for children 6 or older. After registering a team, the coach guides students to do research by following the Challenge guideline. The team may have a

field trip A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of associated peers, such as coworkers or school students, to a place away from their normal environment for the purpose of education or leisure, either within their country or abroad. When ar ...

or visit experts to help children to learn more about the topic. Children will then work on their "Show Me"

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

and Lego models to demonstrate their findings according to the instructions in the Challenge. The team may choose to use any Lego parts that they have at home to construct their models. Optionally, the team may purchase FIRST Lego League Explore Base Kit or Lego WeDo Kit to use.Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL) Coaches’ Guide
- accessed December 23, 2009Products and Pricing
, FIRST - accessed December 31, 2009

Challenges

The FIRST Lego League Explore challenges align with the research project portion of the FIRST Lego League Challenge.Junior FIRST LEGO League - Challenge History
, FIRST - accessed December 23, 2009

Events

Concept

The program encourages teams to go out and tell their story to others after they have completed the poster and the models. They may participate in one of the well-established FIRST Lego League Explore events, which are typically part of FIRST Lego League Challenge tournaments run by independent FIRST Lego League Challenge partners. Most of these events are called FIRST Lego League Explore Expos.What Events And Teams Are In My Area?
, FIRST - accessed December 23, 2009 Alternately, they may host their own event in the neighborhood or at school to showcase their accomplishment. At the FIRST Lego League Explore event, there will be "Reviewers" (the judges) to ask children some questions about what they have learned. They may be asked for details about the project and the models that they built. The FIRST Lego League Explore concept is that everyone is a winner, therefore, the event organizers are recommended to give an award to each team that participates in the event.

Awards

Awards are given out for the following: * Diligent Learning: for special learning commitment and eagerness to try things out * Fabulous Decoration: for a beautiful model with many decorative elements *Sturdy Design: for extensive construction knowledge and a stable model *Unique Team Spirit: for team cohesion and mutual support * Outstanding Ideas: for great model ideas and an eye-catching research poster * Imaginative Construction: for a creative design with high-quality elements *Difficult Situation: for mastering difficulties and improvisation skills * Incredible Movement: for unique movement of the model * Gracious Professionalism: for helpfulness, friendliness, and respect towards others.

Notable events

Since the inception of the program, FIRST Lego League Explore events have been held by local organizers or official FIRST Lego League Explore partners in the participating countries, but not by FIRST headquarters.Event Guide
, ''FIRST'' - accessed March 24, 2012 FIRST holds an annual event called the FIRST Lego League Explore World Festival Expo each year as part of the

FIRST Championship The FIRST Championship is a four-day robotics championship held annually in April at which FIRST student robotics teams compete. For several years, the event was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to the Edward Jones Dome ...

, in Houston, Texas.

References

External links

* {{Lego For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics events Lego 2004 in robotics Recurring events established in 2004