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Welcome
The Tshwane University of
Technology (TUT) and F'SATIE are proud to be associated with the
biggest science and technology competition in the world. In 2007 more
than 100 000 learners from 40 countries around the world has risen to
the very real world challenge of finding solutions to the current
energy crisis in the world. This year we hope to introduce even more
children in South Africa to the " Climate Connection Challenge" that
will go live op September 1, 2008.
The
registration system for 2008 will open soon and we urge teams to
register as soon as possible. We have limited capacity to accommodate
teams and therefore the registration window will only stay open until
all team slots have been filled.
Why did the TUT get involved?
The TUT
and F'SATIE are very concerned about the number of students enrolling
in technical and engineering courses. We view FLL as an instrument to
inspire children at a younger age to become scientists and engineers.
South Africa need more and more engineers each year to sustain our
economy. Through our involvement with FLL we hope to show everyone
just how serious the problem currently is and also our commitment to
find solutions to this problem.
Through
well developed workshop material we can also add value to the
educational process of middle and high school learners. THE TUT
therefore views FLL as a fantastic community intervention program
which will give us direct access to our future students, helping them
on their way to become the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an international Robotics Team
Competition for children 10 - 16 developed in a partnership between
LEGO Company and the USA based organization FIRST.
The Mission of
FIRST LEGO League is to:
- Introduce children
to the fun and excitement of science and technology.
- Develop children's
abilities to work in teams.
- Stimulate
children's
use of creativity in the problem solving process.
How does it
work?
- Teams of 6 to 10
kids work together to digest, understand and solve a real world
challenge
- All teams have an
adult coach that functions as a facilitator
- The challenge of
the year goes live September 15
- The teams have 8
weeks to get ready for the tournament in November. This means:
Build, program and test their robotics invention
- Develop a strategy
for how to score as many points as possible
- Research the
challenge topic and prepare a presentation
- Document all the
work
- In November all the
teams meet at a one day Tournament
The
Tournament.
The tournament is
normally a one day event where all the teams meet to celebrate and
show off their accomplishments at the end of the season.
- The atmosphere is
similar to a sporting event
- Big monitors with
live feed from the competitions
- DJ and Master of
Ceremony
- Kids hype music
- A lot of cheering
and team support
- Judges and referees
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