STEM Educators Guide: Robotics: FIRST LEGO League (FLL)

The 2021-2022 season began on August 17, 2021. 

Game and season materials are available here.

The FIRST LEGO League Challenge is an international competition organized by FIRST and created by inventor Dean Kamen for elementary and middle school students. FIRST LEGO League’s three age-appropriate divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics centered around a yearly theme. Beyond just building a robot, teams also work on an Innovation Project and focus on Core Values and teamwork exercises. A variety of LEGO® products are used in this competition, starting with DUPLO® bricks at the youngest level, then building robots using the LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 system, and finally using the LEGO Mindstorms system for the oldest division.

• GRADE LEVELS: Three divisions, although the division for grades 4-8 is most popular. FIRST LEGO League Discover (ages 4-6; grades PreK-1); FIRST LEGO League Explore (ages 6-10; grades 2-4); FIRST LEGO League Challenge (ages 9-16; grades 4-8)
• NEW SEASON STARTS: August
• COMPETITION SEASON: Fall & Winter. 
• ROBOT SIZE: Small
• TEAM SIZE: Limited to 2-10 students per team
• COST: Medium. Approximately $1,200 to start a team. Successive years cost approximately $700