CNF - Junior FIRST LEGO® League

CNF Junior FIRST LEGO^® League
Jr. FIRST LEGO League Logo

The Junior FIRST LEGO® League (Jr.FLL) is geared towards kids ages 6-9 and is a spin-off of the FIRST LEGO League (FLL). Each year, the FIRST organization (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) releases a science themed challenge for the teams to work on. In this league for the younger kids, the kids form teams that work on a LEGO building challenge based on this science theme. Teams are formed by teachers, coaches, parents, or other mentors who want to encourage kids in science and technology, with the fun of building with LEGOs. Teams consist of up to 6 kids, who meet with their mentor to research the topic for that season, and build a model based on the specific building challenge given. The kids can be classmates, friends, siblings, neighbors, 4-H clubs, etc. Any group can form a team to participate! The season culminates with the high energy music thumping Expo, where the teams gather to present their results to the public and to friendly reviewers and everyone receives a prize for their work.

This year the theme is:

From the Jr.FLL web site:

"Can Junior FIRST LEGO League teams master the science of safely preparing food? In the 2011 Snack Attack Challenge, over 12,000 6 to 9 year olds from 5 countries will take a “hands on” approach to the topic of food safety by exploring how proper preparation and storage can help keep us healthy. Teams will learn about simple machines as they build a model made of LEGO® elements with a motorized moving part, and will create a team Show-Me Poster to represent their Snack Attack findings."

Registration for the 2011 Expo has closed.

Registration for teams to participate in the 2011 season Expo has closed. We have 9 teams from the area coming and are looking forward to another great year. The Expo is on January 28th from 1 - 3:30 PM in Duffield Hall on the Cornell University campus and is open to the general public. In addition to seeing the projects done by the teams, we will have fun hands-on activities from the Ithaca Sciencenter for everyone to enjoy, demonstrations by FIRST LEGO League teams, and a bake sale. If you have any questions please contact Dan Woodie at daniel.woodie(at)cornell.edu or (607)254-4891.

Event Schedule

1 PM - Opening Ceremonies

1:15 - 2:30 PM - Team models will be on display, activities for all by the Ithaca Sciencenter, demonstrations of FIRST LEGO League by two local teams.

2:45 PM - Awards

General Information about FIRST

FIRST is a nonprofit organization that has developed the FLL and Jr.FLL challenges for other organizations (like Cornell University) to run. The Cornell NanoScale Facility (CNF) at Cornell University operates independently from the FIRST organization, but runs the Expo following the framework developed by FIRST. More information about the FIRST organization and the competitions they organize at the elementary, middle, and high school levels can be found at their web site.

FIRST Web Site

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ECS-0335765. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility (CNF)
250 Duffield Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-2700
Voice: 607-255-2329, Fax: 607-255-8601, Email: information@cnf.cornell.edu