The
Fairmont State University College of Science and Technology will host the West
Virginia FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournament on
Saturday, Dec. 8.
An international robotics program in partnership with LEGO, the
FLL is part of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or
FIRST, organization, an international nonprofit agency with the mission of
inspiring the future workforce to appreciate the excitement and personal
rewards of a career in science and technology.
More than 50 teams of middle school students from across the
state, as well as coaches and parents, will attend the event at FSU's main
campus in Fairmont for the largest Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition in
West Virginia. More than 1,000 people are expected to attend.
The event
will take place on the shared main campus of Fairmont State and Pierpont
Community & Technical College beginning at 8 a.m. with registration in the
lobby of the Falcon Center and ending with an awards ceremony at about 4:30
p.m. in Gym 1 of the Falcon Center.
The first
annual Junior FLL event will take place from 1 to 5 p.m.
Registered
teams are from the following cities: Arthurdale, Bridgeport, Bruceton Mills,
Buckhannon, Charleston, Clarksburg, Elkview, Fairmont, Grafton, Greenbank,
Huntington, Keyser, Martinsburg, Mineral Wells, Morgantown, Moundsville,
Parkersburg, Paw Paw, Sistersville, Stollings, Vienna and West Union.
"FIRST
Lego League provides an unique opportunity for young people to have fun while
learning," said Dr. Anthony F. Gilberti, Dean of the College of Science and
Technology at FSU.
"It
inspires those involved and lets them experience teamwork in accomplishing a
technological objective," Gilberti said. "We want children to experience
science, technology, engineering and mathematics from a hands-on perspective,
and hopefully create a new cadre of future engineers and scientists."
Students will assemble robots with LEGO technology and will use
them to compete to accomplish tasks involved in a real-world scenario.
The event challenges students in four areas: robot design,
research, team work and the table competition, said Todd Ensign, Program
Manager for the NASA IV&V Educator Resource Center and director of the
event.
Teams can win prizes in all four areas, and one team will be promoted to
compete in the international FLL tournament
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