Teams representing For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST®) LEGO® League Robotics as well as FIRST® Technology Challenge (FTC) students participated in a qualifying tournament at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) on December 17.

More than 400 middle and high school students, coaches and parents represented 35 teams. The FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge required teams to develop innovative solutions for some of the real-world challenges facing animals, both in their natural habitats and in man-made environments. Teams worked with table-mounted courses and floor-mounted courses for the much larger robots.

To design these challenges, FIRST® LEGO® League staff worked with experts in fields such as rescue biology, veterinary medicine and ecology from the University of New Hampshire, National Geographic, the Biomimicry Institute, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and the New England Aquarium Animal Care Center.

Students and parents got an extra treat when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) arrived with their bomb squad and SWAT team robots. Click here to see more photos from the event.