FIRST LEGO League: Building robots together
First Lego League is a wonderful way for kids to learn how to build robots while having a social experience with other budding engineers. It's a great opportunity for students to gain real life experiences in the STEM field. They are required to solve a real world engineering problem by designing and coding to solve the problem. It urges students to collaborate through teamwork and participate in state/national competitions (which is also great for CV and/or college applications). It's not a resource to be used to simply advance home learning. Participating in FIRST Lego League is more like a club, which students can participate in over many years. Students need to put together a team and find a professional mentor in order to participate. The club has leagues for students from PreK-8th grade.
Grades: FIRST LEGO League Discover (ages 4-6; grades PreK-1); FIRST LEGO League Explore (ages 6-10; grades 2-4); FIRST LEGO League Challenge (ages 9-16; grades 4-8).
Cost: There are never any “per student” fees; all costs are assumed by the team as a group. "Explore" teams can expect to pay approximately $350; "Challenge" teams can expect to pay approximately $800. FIRST believes that no team that wants to participate should have to bow out due to lack of resources and is committed to making funds available to all teams who can’t afford costs.
OTHER DETAILS
Key features
Type of Tool: Website
Time required: For ages 9–16, students take part in a competition and apply their STEM skills combined with critical thinking to work with a team, build a robot, and compete in an exciting, mission-based robotics game. Teams in different parts of the world have different times allotted to complete the construction of the robot, due to the varying date of qualifying tournaments but must have a minimum of 8 weeks from "Global Challenge Release" (the date, usually in August, by which the details of the missions and research project become available to the public).
Special Needs:
Literacy Requirement (does a child need to know how to read):
Screens
Screens: =
Online requirement:
Time
Parent/Caregiver Involvement: Parent/teacher/caregiver involvement is necessary to use this tool.
Prep Time: Minimal prep time
Other characteristics
Modality: Hands-on/kinesthetic
Adaptive: Yes, it includes personalization
Educational Philosophy: Not really, doesn't seem to be influenced by a particular educational philosophy
Other characteristics: Hands-on, Project-based, Self-directed learning, Interdisciplinary, STEAM, STEM, Inclusive of diverse viewpoints and perspectives, Fun and entertaining
Accountability
Assessment: Yes, there are built in assessment tools
State Standards: No
Teacher Accounts:
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