We all know that at the heart of it, all of LEGO’s brick sets and related products today have an educational bent that’s fitting of the brand’s earliest roots. But their LEGO Education product line is pretty blatant about its theme, wearing the distinction of its educational aims with pride.
LEGO has just announced two new sets coming for the LEGO Education line, both of which are themed for space. These LEGO Education sets, named “Mission Moon” (45807) and “Into Orbit”, are to be promoted as the sets used by global participants to the 2018-19 FIRST LEGO League scientific challenge.
This annual worldwide gathering of young scientific innovators from elementary and high-school levels is a collaborative effort between LEGO Education, headed by Esben Stærk Jørgensen, and the international science-tech youth organization FIRST of Dean Kamen. It aims to have the participants compete in basic research to solve a particular worldwide problem, and propose a solution test-built in LEGO.
For the latest upcoming contest period of 2018-2019, FIRST LEGO League will have its entrants work on the principles of Hydro Dynamics, in conjunction with space travel technology. The two contest age groups with each use one of the new LEGO Education sets for their own research and testing challenges.
LEGO Education and FIRST are projecting about 350,000 children from all over the world will be participating in the FIRST LEGO League, with registration scheduled to start on May. They will be divided into two contest age groups, one from 6-10 years old and the other from 9-16 years old.
The two sets for LEGO Education being used in the challenges are compatible with the line’s mechanical app-based WeDo 2.0 Core Set, as well as other LEGO tech products like Mindstorms, which also features in the FIRST LEGO League. Meanwhile, the finals for the 2017-18 challenges are finishing this week.
