Climate Connections was the 2008-09 FIRST Lego League

FIRST Lego League

The FIRST® LEGO® League is an international competition organized by FIRST for elementary and middle school students ....

 competition. Its theme was understanding of the effects of climate

Climate

Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...

 and climate change

Climate change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...

.

Project

Teams had to do a project on the subject of climate. Teams were to identify a climate problem in their area, investigate current efforts on the issue locally and in another community, and create an innovative solution to the problem. Teams then had to share their project with others in the community, and present the whole experience at competition.

Gameplay

The table performance portion of Climate Connections is played on a 4 ft by 8 ft field rimmed by wood boards. At competition, two of these fields are placed together to form an 8 ft square. In each 2 1/2 minute match, a team competes on each field with their robot to earn up to 400 points manipulating the mission models.

One of the mission models, Find Agreement (Align The Arrows), straddles both fields in the center. This model earns points for both teams when the arrows are aligned.

The touch penalty objects are levee models. All 8 are worth up to 5 points depending on their position on the field, but are removed from play every time the robot is touched outside of base.

Missions

There were eighteen (18) missions in the Climate Connections game. Each revolved around some topic pertaining to climate change.

• Bury Carbon Dioxide (Carbon Sequestration) - 5 points per ball
• Construct Levees - up to 5 points per block
• Test Levees - 15 points
• Raise The Flood Barrier - 15 points
• Elevate The House - 25 points
• Turn Off The Lights - 20 points
• Open A Window - 25 points
• Get People Together - 10 points per group
• Find Agreement (Align The Arrows) - 40 points for both teams
• Fund Research Or Corrective Action - 15 points
• Deliver An Ice Core Drilling Machine - up to 30 points
• Extract An Ice Core Sample - up to 30 points
• Deliver An Ice Buoy - 25 points
• Insulate A House - 10 points
• Ride A Bicycle - 10 points
• Telecommute And Research - 10 points
• Study Wildlife - up to 25 points
• Beat the Clock - up to 15 points