Folger McKinsey Elementary School's "For Inspiration and Recognition of Sciences and Technology" (FIRST) Lego League Club is eager and excited to be presenting their Lego projects at this weekend's expo to be held at the Naval Academy.

The expo will take place this Saturday January 12 at USNA's Dahlgren Hall, near the Visitor Access Center at Gate 1.  The event is open to the public and admission is free.

The expo consists of three different events:

1) Junior FIRST Lego League (JrFLL): 1st-3rd graders. 25 teams attending from Folger McKinsey, Naval Academy Primary School, and St. Francis of Assisi. 9:30am - 11:00am.

2) FIRST Lego League (FLL): 4th-5th graders. 7 teams attending from Folger McKinsey, Naval Academy Primary School, and St. Francis of Assisi. 9:00am - 12:30pm.

3) FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge. These are the 14+ year-old teams, and they are coordinated by the USNA.)

Unfamiliar with FIRST Lego League?  Read on!

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit public charity, founded by inventor Mr. Dean Kamen to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology.

Folger McKinsey Elementary started two new clubs last fall: Junior First Lego League (Jr FLL) for 1st-3rd grade, and FIRST Lego League (FLL) for 4th and 5th graders.  Between the two clubs Folger had 84 students, 25 parents, and 12 teams!  The JrFLL teams worked together to research, design, and build a challenge-related model that has at least one moving part.  They also researched and created a "Show-Me" poster and prepared to present their project in front of an audience in a non-competitive environment.

The FLL teams worked on a project to introduce students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. The clubs met on a weekly basis for 8 weeks. 

For more info on FIRST leagues, check out:

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll

Hope to see you at the expo!

(For security reasons, attendees are asked to park in Annapolis and walk onto the Yard.)