X PRIZE Education at FIRST Championship in St. Louis!

On April 26-30 X PRIZE attended the FIRST® Championship in St. Louis to promote the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) Global Innovation Award Presented by X PRIZE. In this competition, FLL® teams across the globe competed for the chance to win up to $20,000 in support of patenting their proposed invention. The theme of this year’s competition, Body Forward, emphasized biomedical engineering solutions to human needs.

X PRIZE Exhibit Proved to be Very Popular

Mitch Aiken with the lucky winner of a Genetics and DNA Kit

Members of Dragoneer Medics Decsribe their project to LEGO owner Kjeld Kristiansen

The X PRIZE Foundation booth at the FIRST® Championship showcased the Foundation’s education outreach initiatives. Activities included creating key chains in the form of DNA sequences and a raffle for DNA Kits and an iPAD.

X PRIZE’s Chanda Gonzales, Alan Zack and Mitch Aiken with lucky winner of an X PRIZE-branded iPad

The Moonbots Challenge, an education outreach program of the Google Lunar X PRIZE, was also on display with two teams from last year’s competition demonstrating their winning LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robots.

Bob Weiss with members of 2010 Moonbots team

X PRIZE Celebrates DNA Day!

On April 15^th the X PRIZE Foundation joined the Saint Louis Science Center for a full day of interactive activities celebrating National DNA Day as part of its education outreach for the Archon Genomics X PRIZE.

Hundreds of science center visitors learned about deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by making Inheritance Bracelets based on several one-gene traits, applying temporary DNA tattoos, and creating beaded key chains in the form of DNA sequences. DNA Day celebrates the discovery of the DNA double helix and the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003.

X PRIZE also marked DNA Day by unveiling the world’s largest LEGO DNA sculpture, the “Building Bricks of Life” created by famed brick artist Nathan Sawaya. The sculpture stands just under seven feet and was a hit among the school groups and families that visited the Saint Louis Science center throughout the day.

The DNA celebrations continued with an overnight DNA themed camp-in at the science center, where nearly 60 campers and chaperons had the opportunity to build DNA key chains, extract DNA from fruit, and participate in DNA Disco.