A new digital special from GPB Education, “FIRST LEGO League: From Georgia to Houston,” follows three top teams from Georgia as they make their way to compete in the FIRST LEGO League international competition in Houston, Texas. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the 2018-2019 FLL season’s “Into Orbit” theme challenged students to collaborate to design, build, code, and test robots for missions and work together to solve problems related to human space travel. Using STEM concepts, students develop critical thinking and presentation skills and learn to overcome the same challenges that face scientists today. 

Each challenge has three parts: the Robot Game, the Project, and the Core Values. Teams of up to ten children, with at least two adult coaches, participate in FLL’s challenge by programming an autonomous robot to score points on a themed playing field (Robot Game), developing a solution to a problem they have identified (Project), all guided by the FIRST Core Values, including teamwork, inclusion, and fun. Each of the three parts are judged equally during competition. 

After earning the top spots at the FIRST LEGO League State Championship, the Sharon Elementary Robo Knights, Actually Sirius, and Techno Wizards represented Georgia as they competed against over 100 teams from all over the world at the FLL international competition.

In this digital special produced by GPB Education, see how kids work together to solve problems and hear students and coaches from each Georgia team highlight their journeys to the FLL competition in Houston.