EVENT: Robots Rule at 6th Annual FIRST LEGO League Championship

36 Teams Go Head-to-Head in the Ultimate Lego Challenge

WHO: What do the Acorn Chuckin\' Squirrels, the Loc Block, the Hippie Pandas, and the Fightin\' Saint-Bots have in common? All are among the 36 teams that will test their creativity and engineering skills during the sixth annual Finger Lakes FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Championship hosted by the University of Rochester.

TIME, DATE, PLACE: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5, in the Alexander Palestra at the University of Rochester.

9 a.m. to noon: Morning activities include judged presentations from each team.

1 to 3:30 p.m.: The tournament continues with the robotic competition, which may provide the best photo and video opportunities.

WHAT: This year, FLL teams will explore how engineering can help people live happier, healthier lives through the 2010 Body Forward Challenge. Each team is tasked with identifying a problem that can occur in the human body and then come up with creative solutions that can help repair or heal the body. Teams will present their solutions to a panel of judges during the competition. In the afternoon, teams get down to business, using Lego blocks to create robots that can accomplish 14 missions related to biomedical engineering. Throughout the day, participants also will meet and interact with University undergraduates, including members of the Midnight Ramblers, one of Rochester\'s a cappella performance group.

ABOUT THE FIRST LEGO LEAGUE: The FLL, a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Company, was created to inspire children ages nine through 14 to celebrate science and technology. Students work alongside adult mentors, learning how to build and program robots that can solve real-life challenges. In the Finger Lakes region, more than 100 teams have competed in six qualifier tournaments in hopes of making it to the championship.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information about the competition, please call on-site media contact Costas Solomou at 585-259-6243.