On Jan. 18, more than 4,000 visitors and student volunteers packed Iowa State’s College of Engineering buildings for the FIRST Lego League Championship.

The FIRST Lego League is an organization that works to excite young students about engineering and science. Through this event, students build Lego robots that compete in an obstacle course and are judged on a themed researched project as well as overall sportsmanship and professionalism.

Each year, students ranging in age from nine to 14 form teams to compete in the championship, but they have to first qualify at regionals.

One team, Lego Adrenaline, from Sioux City, Iowa, won first place at its regionals and was then allowed to advance to the championship at Iowa State.

A team of six members and two coaches, Lego Adrenaline competed in last year’s championship where it placed second.

“It gets more fun every year because you know more about it and know what you’re doing, and you just get to meet cool people,” said Lauryn Jansen, a member of Lego Adrenaline.

Iowa State has housed the Iowa Championship for the past 12 years, and each year brings a new theme.

This year’s theme, “Nature’s Fury,” focused on natural disasters and how engineering can help.

One-third of the competition had students design a project that could improve natural disaster situations. They could revamp an old protocol, create their own product or create a preventative measure. The main guideline was to be creative and make the project their own.

“It was really hard to find a project to work on where there wasn’t already a solution in place,” said Dejah Jansen, a coach from Lego Adrenaline. “But once we found something to work with, the kids really had a fun time coming up with a solution.”

The second part of the competition was students creating a robot using Legos and a robotics kit provided for them.

The robot then navigates through an obstacle course designed to fit that year’s theme. This year, the challenge involved triggering a rescue helicopter, navigating through various debris roadblocks, moving an ambulance and much more.

The third part of the competition measured how well participants demonstrated the league’s core values.

“My favorite [part of the competition] was the core values,” said Victoria Nelson, a member of Lego Adrenaline. “It made me a better person.”

FIRST Lego League emphasizes core values as the most important part of the competition. Treating others with respect, collaborating, being helpful and having good sportsmanship are how a team represents core values.

“Core values is what makes FIRST different because it emphasizes their attitudes and how the students go through the process — because it’s all about fun and making sure the students learn something and have a great experience,” said Emily Hurban, senior in food science and the regionals coordinator for Iowa’s FIRST Lego League.

Demonstrating the core values was encouraged the entire day and lasted throughout the awards ceremony.

At the championships, WorldChangers placed first, Riverdale Rocks Robots took second and The MARRVStormers placed third.

With only 36 awards and more than 72 teams, not everyone walked away with a title, but the teams that didn’t still supported those that did.

The championship was sponsored by Rockwell Collins, John Deere, Engel/Johnson Family and the Guidry Foundation.