Learners in Nelson Mandela Bay will again be exposed to the excitement and benefits of science and technology when Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s School of ICT hosts a regional qualifying tournament for the First Lego League (FLL) challenge.
This year’s “Animal Allies” challenge theme for learners aged nine to 16 starts off with an information session at the University on April 16, followed by training workshops before the tournament starts in August.
Children in teams of between two and 10 members learn valuable skills while researching challenges facing today’s scientists since FLL encourages participants to think like scientists and engineers.
South Africa’s economic growth is presently being stifled by a severe skills shortage, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering, maths and accounting.
The introduction of the FLL challenge to South Africa, run by NMMU’s School of ICT, is one of several interventions to introduce children to the benefits of science and technology and interest them in pursuing careers in these fields.
The FLL teams, alongside adult coaches, strive to solve problems using research, engineering concepts, presentation techniques and robots. This year the focus is on various interactions between humans and animals such as how dogs assist blind people.
According to NMMU School of ICT (Lego Robotics) public relations intern Siphe Mwellie, past FLL challenges have been based on topics such as nanotechnology, climate, quality of life for the handicapped, and transportation.
“By designing our challenges around such topics, learners are exposed to potential career paths within a chosen challenge topic, in addition to solidifying the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) principles,” she said.
After the April 16 information session, interested parties can attend additional workshops for pre-tournament training.
The FFL’s official launch workshop takes place on August 20, after which the challenge documents are released.
The regional qualifying tournament takes place on October 21 and 22 at NMMU’s Indoor Sports Centre.
For further information or to register for the tournament, contact Siphe Mwellie on 041 504 3451
Alan Straton
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