What is FIRST® LEGO® League?
FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) is an interactive engineering challenge designed for younger students. The competition is open to Gr. 4-8 students and requires teams to design and build a LEGO® robot to complete the given task (see below). FLL allows elementary students to apply math and science skills to real-world problems and research some of the issues facing today's scientists. Students also learn about teamwork, critical thinking and public speaking, all while having loads of fun.

This Year's Challenge
Can FIRST® LEGO® League teams improve the quality of food by finding ways to prevent food contamination? In the 2011 Food Factor Challenge, over 200,000 9-16 year olds from over 55 countries will explore the topic of food safety and examine the possible points of contamination our food encounters – from exposure to insects and creatures, to unsterile processing and transportation, to unsanitary preparation and storage – then find ways to prevent or combat these contaminates. In the Food Factor Challenge, teams will build, test, and program an autonomous robot using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT to solve a set of Food Safety missions as well as research, develop, and share their innovative food safety solutions. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under FLL’s signature set of Core Values.