Middle School students participate in Lego League

One Voorheesville Central School District team participated in the 2006 First Lego League (FLL) NanoQuest Challenge on Saturday, Dec. 9, sponsored by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and General Electric.

The Voorheesville Nanonators team included eight Middle School students.

Twenty-four teams from middle schools across the Capital Region competed in the challenge. FLL is a partnership between the LEGO Group and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.

Students had three months to design, build, program and test a Lego Mindstorms robot to explore nanotechnology. Robots had to be entirely autonomous, meaning they could not be remote controlled.

During the tournament, each team competed in challenge missions to test their robots. Students had two and a half minutes per round to complete as many missions as possible.

Students also had to prepare a presentation focusing on a creative and unique application of nanotechnology. In addition, the students were interviewed by a panel of judges for their robot design and teamwork.

For complete results, visit RPI and GE's First Lego League Tournament Web site.