Associated Press
01-20-07
Youngsters Compete In Lego Robot Competition
Hundreds of youngsters from around the state met in central Iowa over the
weekend to compete with Lego robots that help them learn about science and
technology.
The students, ages 9 to 14, gathered Saturday at Iowa State University's
College of Engineering to compete in the sixth-annual First Lego League Iowa
Championship.
This year's challenge focused on lessons in nanotechnology, the science of
engineering at the molecular scale.
Each team was required to give a presentation on the topic. They also took part
in a question-and-answer session on how they built the team robot using the
popular building blocks, and another on how they used teamwork to prepare for
the competition.
The finale was the running of the robots -- where the Lego robots performed nine
missions within a limit of two minutes, 30 seconds.
Officials said the competition drew a crowd of more than 1,000 people.