Culture & Education | Thursday 19 April, 2018 10:45 am |

Today at the FIRST®Championship Houston, LEGO®Education and FIRSTunveiled two new, exclusive space sets to inspire participants in the 2018-2019 FIRST®LEGO®League Jr. and FIRST®LEGO®League season. The programs for the new season are themed “MISSION MOON℠” and “INTO ORBIT℠” to help build students’ curiosity around space exploration and scientific discovery while developing their skills and experience in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Students are tasked with completing a space challenge designed in partnership with astronauts and space experts and will use a variety of LEGO Education solutions including the proprietary space-themed FIRSTLEGO League Jr. Inspire Set and FIRSTLEGO League Challenge Set, LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 or LEGO®MINDSTORMS®Education EV3. 

“At LEGO Education, we believe the skills fostered through fun, developmental programs like those we create with FIRSTwill teach our children that anyone can release their potential to innovate,” said Esben Stærk Jørgensen, president of LEGO Education. “We are excited to see the FIRSTLEGO League Jr. and FIRSTLEGO League projects that children around the world will create using LEGO Education solutions and the new MISSION MOON℠and INTO ORBIT℠materials.” 

“As we celebrate the 20thanniversary of FIRST LEGO League, we are excited to return to the inaugural theme of space,” said Program Director Kim Wierman, of FIRST. “Our first class of participants can now watch their own children engage in the joy and discovery of STEM learning.” 

LEGO Education and FIRSTinspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology

LEGO Education provides hands-on learning that enables every student to succeed. Through its partnership with FIRST,an international, K-12 not-for-profit organization founded to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology, children ages 6-16* can solve real-world problems through innovative hands-on learning tools and theme-based challenges.

The 2018-2019 FIRSTLEGO League Jr. MISSION MOON℠Challenge will reach over 86,000 children, ages 6-10* from 41 countries. Teams use the annual Inspire Set to build a model based on the challenge, and use LEGO®Education WeDo 2.0 to program it to move. 

The 2018-2019 FIRSTLEGO League INTO ORBIT℠ Challenge, will invite more than 280,000 children, ages 9 to 16*, from nearly 90 countries to explore, challenge and innovate in the demanding space field. Teams will design, build and code an autonomous LEGO®MINDSTORMS®robot to perform a series of space-themed missions on a playing field. They will also research a problem they identify and design an innovative solution to that problem. 

FIRST teams are guided by the FIRST Core Values, which celebrate teamwork, discovery and fun. The iterative work needed throughout the season provides an introduction to the engineering design process. To learn more about FIRST, including FIRSTLEGO League Jr. and FIRSTLEGO League, visit www.firstinspires.org