Power Puzzle

From FIRSTwiki

(Redirected from FLL Challenge 2007)

Power Puzzle

Challenge Number:	9
Year of Challenge Release:	2007
Number of Missions:	13
Challenge Designers:	Sarah L. Weingarden, Ed Gatzke, Chris Lotspeich, John Weidner, Paal Smith-Meyer
Number of Teams:	10,600
Number of Children:	106,000
Number of Events:	{{{number of events}}}
Number of US Championship Events:	{{{number of US events}}}
Number of World Championship Events:	{{{number of world events}}}
Official Site:	{{{official site}}}

The Power Puzzle is the ninth FIRST LEGO League Challenge. This year's theme is the "Power Puzzle". It deals with the use of energy. Last year, nearly 8,846 teams and 90,000 children participated in Nano Quest. This year, approximately 106,000 children and 10,600 teams are expected worldwide.

1 Challenge Summary
2 Challenge Announcement
3 Missions
4 References
5 External links

[edit]

Challenge Summary

How do our personal energy choices to heat our homes, fuel our cars, charge our cell phones, power our computers, or even download music to our iPods impact the environment, economy, and life around the globe? Which resources should we use and why? Explore how energy production and consumption choices affect the planet and our quality of life today, tomorrow, and for future generations. Can FIRST LEGO League teams find the ultimate solution to this global Power Puzzle?

(Excerpt taken from the FIRST LEGO League official website.)

[edit]

Challenge Announcement

FIRST LEGO® League Goes “Green” with 2007 “Power Puzzle” Challenge
More than 100,000 middle-school students in 38 countries gear up to help solve the world’s energy problems Manchester, NH, September 5, 2007 – FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology through teamwork and problem solving, today officially launches its biggest-ever FIRST LEGO® League season with the unveiling of the 2007 “Power Puzzle” Challenge.

This year’s Challenge calls for teams of middle-school students, ages 9 to 14, to use robotics to understand and create solutions for one of today’s most critical environmental issues: energy management and conservation.

With missions exploring solar panels on houses, hydro-dams, wind turbines and planting trees, teams will have to program their robots to find sustainable options to meet our planet’s growing energy needs in environmentally sound ways.

FIRST collaborated with the Gulf Coast Combined Heat and Power Application Center, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina and the Second Hill Group, an independent consultant that specializes in issues including energy, environment and green design, to create a theme and Challenge missions that are reflective of today’s real-world issues.

“The environment is a huge concern for everyone, including kids,” said Dean Kamen, FIRST founder. "Giving them a hands-on experience that allows them to use their imaginations and creativity in combination with science and technology to solve a real-world problem is empowering. It captures the true spirit of FIRST LEGO League and unleashes the creative problem-solving skills today’s kids need for building a better tomorrow."

FIRST will also kick off the 2007 Junior FIRST LEGO League (JFLL) “Power Puzzle” season today. Now in its fourth year, Junior FIRST LEGO League is geared towards 6 to 9 year-olds, introducing them to the wonders of science and technology through traditional, open-ended LEGO building with an age-appropriate Challenge based on the FIRST LEGO League theme.

[edit]

Missions

A mission is a task, which a robot built and programmed by the team, can perform to gain points. In each challenge, there is a certain number of missions. Teams have eight weeks to complete all the missions and project. At a tournament, teams try to get as many missions as they can completed in two and a half minutes. There are various missions, consisting of different tasks surrounding the topic. The missions include: