The FIRST® LEGO® League and FIRST® LEGO® League Junior Themes have been released. Registration is now open!
At the FIRST World Festival in Houston, TX, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and LEGO Education released the themes for the 2019-2020 FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Lego League Junior seasons.
The new theme for FLL is called City Shaper.
Logo for FLL Season City Shaper
Images released show that the theme is focused on Urban Planning and Architecture. For the first time ever, a LEGO designer specializing in their architectural building line was a part of the design team for the FLL Challenge. LEGO Architectural Artist Rok Kobe said, “Architecture itself is the development of closed and open spaces, to fulfill people’s practical and expressive needs. …We have architecture, urban design, landscape architecture, civil engineering, ecology, and technology, combining to create for us, new and better places to live.”
While the full details of the challenge won’t be released until August, we do know that teams will be receiving white building elements like those found in the various Architectural Theme sets. Other models on the challenge table also appear to be connected to traffic engineering, landscape architecture, structural and construction engineering, civil engineering, and of course architecture.
FLL is designed to inspire youth ages 9-14 to engage with STEM. Teams of 3-10 students will design, build, and program a robot using LEGO to autonomously complete missions and score points. In addition, students will research a real-world problem related to the year’s theme. They will then communicate their Innovative Solution in an interesting and memorable way, all while demonstrating a high standard of teamwork and sportsmanship.
Picture of the Challenge Mat for the FLL Season City Shapers
The new theme for FLL-Jr is called Boomtown Builder.
Logo for FLL-Jr Season Boomtown Build
Images released show that the Inspiration set is a functioning construction crane.
Just like FLL, Junior teams will learn about City planning and architecture and how buildings affect the people who live and work near them.
FLL-Jr is for younger students aged 6-10. Working in teams of 2-6, they explore the theme with a guide book… build multiple small mechanical and motorized devices. Teams will use the Inspiration Set to construct a motorized, LEGO diorama illustrating the season theme. Finally, they decorate a Show Me Poster that illustrates what they have learned.
FLL-Jr Inspire Set Boomtown Builders
For more information about joining or starting a team, contact Jeremy Haugen jhaugen@embe.org or visit www.firstinspires.org
