It was a Lego challenge to remember at NAIT on Saturday.
Hundreds of elementary and junior high school students from across northern Alberta participated in the First Lego League Alberta Championship. The students were challenged to create robotics using Lego, with this year’s theme being hydro-dynamics.
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“Everybody says, ‘Oh, I love Lego. I want to play with Lego.’ Lego is the platform, it’s just computer engineering, like it’s an engineering process,” tournament organizer Melvin Stocking said.
“It’s design-thinking and the kids are problem-solving from the ground up. It’s fantastic to watch.”
Students were required to identify a problem involving water and find a solution.
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The 500 students came up with some unique creations.
“We have ones that are incredibly ornate, with lots of different pieces, and then there are other ones that are just very simple,” Stocking said.
“The ages for these teams are Grades 4 to 9, so we have a wide range of ability.”
The winner of the competition received an opportunity to travel to Houston, Texas this spring for the world championships.
The Edmonton competition started in 2005.