Info for Schools – FIRST Australia

Why are schools across Australia taking on FIRST?

School based FIRST teams represent their schools wherever they go, even representing their school and Australia if they make world championship events!

Not only are these opportunities exciting experiences for the competitors – participation in the competitions teaches students problem solving, public speaking, teamwork, communication, time management, science and mathematics, research and technology skills. These are skills which are not only personally rewarding to the students but also reflect very well on their school.

How?

There are several ways to get your school involved in FIRST in Australia, depending on means and students. The most common ways are:

Start a FIRST LEGO League Team – Primary School

Discover (Ages 4 – 6)
Explore (Ages 6 – 10)
Challenge (Ages 9-16)

The cheapest and easiest option for schools to get involved with FIRST is participation in the FIRST LEGO League: Discover, Explore and/or Challenge. Registration for these programs include a set of themed LEGO for teams to work with.

A Challenge team can have up to 10 students and each team also requires one LEGO Mindstorms EV3 or SPIKE Prime kit (per team) which can be reused year after year. Teams attend regional qualifying events (one per season of their choice) and from there may qualify to a national championship event. The top teams in Australia then qualify for international event invitations, including the World Championships in the US.

An Explore team requires a WeDo 2.0 from LEGO Education and up to 6 students per team. Teams may attend expos hosted at venues or schools near them; alternatively, schools may hold their own expos to showcase the students work. There are also invitations each year for Explore teams to attend the World Expo in the USA.

A Discover team does not utilise an electronic componet or coding, but rather focuses on curiosity, exploration and innovation in youngsters. There are no competitions or expos; Discover is a classroom, learning-based activity. Each group of students should have a LEGO® DUPLO® Steam Park Set to work with in addition to the yearly themed Discover set from FIRST.

These programs are currently live in all states and territories in Australia (except Canberra . . . but we are working on that!)

At FIRST Inspires (Global Site), you can find further resources to help you start and run your FIRST LEGO League team.

To get started with FIRST LEGO League in Australia, click the appropriate division below to get started:

Start an FTC team – Lower Secondary School

An alternative to FIRST LEGO League for high school – students can join the team in year 7 and stay with it for several years. Just like FLL, FIRST Tech Challenge teams need a kit of parts from PITSCO (US based) which they can re-use each year.

There are currently official qualifying events Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney, where teams compete for the opportunity to advance to the National Championship in Brisbane (2020). The most successful teams in from the national competition will also be invited to attend the World Championships in the United States..

To get started with FIRST Tech Challenge, visit the FIRST Inspires global site for further resources and also the FIRST Australia FTC page for instructions on the registration process and event dates in Australia.

Start an FRC team – Mid to Upper Secondary School

Teams consist of 10-50 students and typically have 3-20 adult mentors with varying skillsets (industry engineers, parents, teachers) to guide them.

Team receive a comprehensive Kit of Parts which form the basis of the robots they construct. Teams also require additional materials (sheet metal, nuts&bolts, etc.) to build their robot, which is far bigger and heavier than FLL or FTC robots – robots can be up to 2 metres tall and weigh over 50kg. Teams will also require tools (a school metalwork shop for example) and space to meet, design, manufacture, assemble and store robots.

Most teams are supported by corporate sponsors to cover the costs of competing, although some are funded solely by their schools.

Each year, the game is announced in early January, at which point teams can start building in preparation for one or more regional qualifying events. Australia does hold regional qualifying events which teams may choose to attend but they may also travel outside Australia for other regional events. Each regional presents an opportunity for the team to advance to the World Championships, where they will represent their school, community and sponsors. All Australian teams are also welcome at the June Duel Down Under, held annually in Sydney at Macquarie University.

For more information on competing domestically or internationally, please visit the FIRST Inspires global FRC site or reach out to FIRST Australia at first.australia@mq.edu.au.

FRC requires more time, money, space and manpower than FLL or FTC. The students’ experience of FIRST has been described as ‘the hardest fun they’ll ever have’, and FRC is the most intense, challenging and rewarding of the three programs. There are around 60 FRC teams in Australia at of 2020.

Host an Event

Schools have the opportunity to host FIRST events at all levels. For instance, Grace Lutheran College in Brisbane hosts the FTC National Championship, the FRC Duel Down Under has been held at Barker College in Sydney, and Unity Grammar in Austral, NSW has hosted FLL Challenge for several years. Some schools choose to hold FLL Discover Expos and invite area teams, like Tacking Point Public School in Port Macquarie, NSW.

If your school is interested in hosting a tournament or you would like more information, please contact us at First.Australia@mq.edu.au .