Lincoln Youth to Compete in FIRST LEGO League Nature's Fury Nov. 23

Nov. 18, 2013

LINCOLN, Neb. — More than a hundred youth from Lincoln and nearby towns will showcase their robotic work during the Time Warner Cable FIRST LEGO League "NATURE'S FURY" challenge from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Nov. 23 at the Nebraska East Union on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's East Campus.

Youth have been working since August to develop leadership and solve this robotic mission.

The day is sponsored by Time Warner Cable's Connect a Million Minds initiative which is committed to engaging youth in science, technology, engineering and math.

Admission is free to the public. Selected teams will qualify for the Nebraska FIRST LEGO League Championship Tournament scheduled for Feb. 22, 2014, at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland.

This year's FLL "NATURE'S FURY" challenge calls for teams of nine to 14 to research and present their own creative solutions to one of today's most relevant topics: natural disasters.

Teams also will build, test and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT to solve a set of natural disaster missions, such as positioning an evacuation sign, clearing an airplane's runway of debris and delivering supplies.

The cornerstones of the experience are the FLL Core Values, which emphasize contributions of others, friendly competition, learning and community involvement.

At the tournament, teams will demonstrate their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and sense of community. Local university, nonprofit and corporate science and technology professionals will be tournament judges and referees.

The competition is judged in five areas: research and presentation, robot performance, technical mechanics of the robot's construction, teamwork and gracious professionalism. The highest honor will go to the team that best exemplifies the spirit and values of the program. Medals will be awarded to participants and trophies will be awarded to teams.

For more information about the Time Warner Cable FIRST LEGO League challenge, contact Tracy Pracheil at 402-472-9016, 402-643-1778 or email tpracheil2@unl.edu.

The event is hosted by UNL Extension's 4-H Youth Development Program.  UNL Extension is in the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.