House Bill hb9081

    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9081

        By Representative Crow






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution designating April 27, 2002, as

  3         "FIRST Day" in Florida.

  4

  5         WHEREAS, founded over a decade ago by inventor and

  6  entrepreneur Dean Kamen, FIRST, an acronym for "For

  7  Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,"

  8  designs accessible, innovative programs to build

  9  self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating

10  young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology,

11  and engineering, and

12         WHEREAS, the initial FIRST Robotics Competition began

13  10 years ago with 28 teams and a single 14-square-foot playing

14  field, and today more than 600 national and international

15  teams involving over 20,000 high school students in the United

16  States, Canada, Brazil, and the United Kingdom will

17  participate in 17 regional events during March and April 2002

18  and a championship event to be held at Disney's Epcot in

19  Orlando scheduled for April 25-27, and

20         WHEREAS, standard "kits of parts" are distributed to

21  adult team mentors, after which FIRST participants have only

22  six weeks to work with their mentors to solve a common problem

23  using the parts and a standard set of rules to create an

24  original robot with which to participate in regional

25  competitions, and

26         WHEREAS, the game for the FIRST Robotics Competition

27  2002, "Zone Zeal," will feature robots that race around a

28  playing field gathering balls, put the balls into goals, and

29  place the goals in their scoring zones, all in less than two

30  minutes, and

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HR 9081

    568-195-02






  1         WHEREAS, outgrowths of FIRST Robotics are the FIRST

  2  LEGO League, a successful Jr. Robotics program that introduces

  3  science and technology to elementary and middle school

  4  students using real-world challenges and hands-on learning,

  5  and the FIRST Place program, which provides the environment to

  6  inspire and educate others in field science and technology,

  7  and

  8         WHEREAS, truly a cooperative team effort to awaken

  9  young people to the accessibility, fun, and importance of

10  science and engineering, FIRST has attracted colleges,

11  universities, corporations, businesses, and individuals to

12  provide millions in scholarships, including $1.7 million for

13  students participating in FIRST this year, NOW, THEREFORE,

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15  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

16  Florida:

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18         That the House of Representatives congratulates all the

19  participants, mentors, and sponsors of the 11th annual FIRST

20  Robotics Competition and designates April 27, 2002, as "FIRST

21  Day" in Florida.

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