Food Factor Challenge

“Keeping Food Safe”

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 9-14 year olds (US Ages)*  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.

The FLL Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL program. They are among the fundamental elements that distinguish FLL from other programs of its kind. By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork.

  •  We are a team.
  •  We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors.
  •  We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together.
  •  We honor the spirit of friendly competition.
  •  What we discover is more important than what we win.
  •  We share our experiences with others.
  •  We display Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition in everything we do.

Registration is going on now for Food Factor!  Teams can be school, organizations, or neighborhood.

*16 in some countries

Android FLL Scoring App (Food Factor)


Check out the new App from Tech Brick for scoring Food Factor on the Android


http://www.techbrick.com/Lego/Lego2011/Resources/smartphones2011.htm

LegoScore 11: Food FactorAndroid App by Paul Asp
A scoring application forFirst Lego League (FLL) teams to use in competition for the 2011-2012 season”Food Factor” robot competition.

The program includes:

  • - instant score total
  • - ability to save scores with date and time of run
  • - view the scores by list
  • - built-in 2:30 timer
  • - graph the scores to see progress

NASA sending LEGOS on Jupiter Mission

NASA is sending three LEGO figurines on the upcoming mission to Jupiter. Scientists hope that sophisticated instruments will reveal clues about the origins of the universe.

LEGOS have launched aboard the space shuttle, visited the space station, and flown to Mars. Now, three more “very special” LEGO figurines are set to fly to Jupiter with NASA’s Juno spacecraft.

LEGOS Headed to Jupiter
The specially-constructed LEGO Minifigures are of the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno, and “father of science” Galileo Galilei. The LEGO crew’s mission is part of the Bricks in Space project, the joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the collaboration between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.