(Kings Park, New York) — On March 4, fourteen teams participated in the 4th Annual Junior FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League (Jr. FLL) Expo at Longwood High School. The event was presented by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) and the Longwood Central School District. This year, Jr. FLL participants took part in the Snack Attack Challenge.

In the Snack Attack Challenge, students took a “hands on” approach to the topic of food safety by exploring how proper preparation and storage can help keep us healthy. Teams learned about simple machines as they built a model made of LEGO elements with a motorized moving part, and created a team Show-Me Poster to represent their Snack Attack findings.

Focused on building an interest in science and engineering in children ages 6-9, Junior FIRST LEGO League is a hands-on program designed to capture young children’s inherent curiosity and direct it toward discovering the possibilities of improving the world around them. Just like FLL, this program features a real-world challenge, to be solved by research, critical thinking and imagination. Guided by adult coaches and the Jr. FLL Core Values, students work with LEGO elements and moving parts to build ideas and concepts and present them for review. Each yearly Challenge has two parts: the LEGO Model and the Show-Me Poster. Working in teams of two to six children and guided by at least one adult coach, teams worked to complete the Challenge.



The following teams received these awards (please note that some of the categories had multiple winners but there was no definite order):

Awards
Team #
Location
Team Name

Against All Odds
2172
Elmont
Zion Jr. Innovators

Teamwork
2272
Merrick
Fabulous Fayette 5

Teamwork
482
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County (GSSC), Nesconset
Super Scoopers

Teamwork
481
GSSC, Farmingville
Extreme LEGO GO GO Boots

Teamwork
871
Melville
Amazing Builders

Show Me Poster
98
Huntington Station
Justice League

Show Me Poster
2296
Old Bethpage
Storm Hawks

Show Me Poster
658
Oyster Bay
St. Dominators

Team Spirit
1232
Commack
Fruit Flyers

Reviewers Award
903
Oyster Bay
Munchkins

Reviewers Award
1493
Merrick
Merrick Connection

Model Design Award
220
Seaford
LEGOnauts

Model Design Award
1716
Albertson
TNT Muff

Gracious Professionalism
1887
Plainview
Robotic Brain Freezers


Sponsors of the tournament included SBPLI; Longwood Central School District; Massapequa Union Free School District; Brookhaven National Laboratory; FIRST; Sideboard Computers; Farmingdale State College; The Law Office of Jeffrey Stern; Lisa Cohen; the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District; Sir Speedy of Plainview; and Robert Woods of LEGO Education.

Founded by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST was created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. First LEGO League is an international program for 9- to 14-year-old children created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual Challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.

Rick Ramhap, Jr. FLL Coordinator, said: “We are pleased to coordinate the Long Island Jr. FIRST LEGO League Expo. It is an extension of the FIRST Robotics Competition and the FIRST LEGO League Championship Tournament. Together these programs are opening a world of technology, science, and engineering to so many Long Island students, helping to build our high tech workforce of the future.”

* Photo is available upon request. Individual photos of the winning teams are also available upon request.

For more information about SBPLI, visit www.sbpli.org.

ABOUT FIRSTTM

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRSTTM (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world’s most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, FIRST LEGO® League for children 9-14 years old, and Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org. To learn more about the “Smart Move” Challenge, go to www.usfirst.org/community/fll/.

ABOUT THE LEGO GROUP

LEGO Systems Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America) division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough." For more information, visit www.LEGO.com

FIRST is a trademark of US FIRST.

LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of The LEGO Group. © 2009 The LEGO Group.

School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) was founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses that would provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce. Over 100 partnerships have been formed. In 1999, SBPLI brought the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics program to Long Island, where eight high school teams participated. Since then, the FIRST robotics program has grown to 50 teams, with over 2,300 students participating in FIRST Robotics and LEGO League programs on Long Island each year. The 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition will be held at Hofstra University on March 29-31, 2012.

Hank Russell, Public Relations Director
The Public Relations and Marketing Group
156 North Ocean Avenue
Patchogue, NY 11772
(631) 207-1057

This release was published on openPR.