Lego league state championship kicks off Jan. 16

The FIRST Lego League State Championship will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, in the Elgin Community College Events Center, Building J, 1700 Spartan Drive.

FIRST Lego League is a program for ages 9-14 or fourth- to eighth-graders. Each year, FLL creates a new challenge and a new theme. In the 2015 FIRST Lego League Trash Trek Challenge, 290,000 children ages 9 to 14 from more than 80 countries will explore the fascinating world of trash. We're not talking trash - we're cleaning it up! From collection, to sorting, to smart production and reuse, there is more to your trash than meets the eye. Join FIRST Lego League teams on a Trash Trek to discover the hidden (or not so hidden) world of trash!

FIRST Lego League challenges kids to think like scientists and engineers. During the Trash Trek season, teams will choose and solve a real-world trash problem in the project. They also will build, test, and program an autonomous robot using Lego Mindstorms technology to solve a set of missions in the robot game. Throughout their experience, teams will operate under FLL's signature set of core values, celebrating discovery, teamwork, and gracious professionalism. Each year, there is a qualifying tournament series that leads from local qualifying tournaments to the championship tournaments. A tournament is an opportunity for teams to learn, showcase their accomplishments and celebrate their hard work throughout the season.

There are two Illinois FLL Championship tournaments for the Trash Trek season: one in Northern Illinois at ECC on Jan. 16 and one in Central Illinois at University of Illinois on Jan. 23. About 25 percent of the teams participating at an Illinois qualifying tournament will advance to a championship. Each championship tournament will have 64 teams competing. The tournaments are free and open to the public. Visit www.ilfirst.org.