April 5 was the FIRST LEGO League Jr. Expo at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library. Over 100 people came together to celebrate the wrap of the season and to see the LEGO models made with motorized parts by the kindergarten through third graders.
This first season of FIRST LEGO League Jr. brought together 55 children to explore the real world topic of managing and creating trash. Over the course of seven weeks, the 14 teams chose a trash topic of choice and built a model out of LEGO and a poster that demonstrated their chosen trash topic. Each child learned how to use the simple WeDo software program to design models with motorized parts. The teams programmed motorized elements such as conveyor belts that show how trash is moved and sorted in recycling facilities; how trash compactors compress recycled paper into cubes; how dump trucks haul garbage, dumping LEGO pieces into receptacles.
The program’s goal was to show children how much fun science and technology can be, and how to work with and learn from others.
This year’s FIRST LEGO League Jr. season was a collaboration between the Juneau Economic Development Council, Friends of the Juneau Public Library and the Juneau Public Library.
