Children Communicating Food Safety/Teaching Technical Communication to Children: Opportunities Gleaned from the FIRST® LEGO® League 2011 Food Factor Challenge

This chapter argues that technical communicators can use FIRST LEGO League (FLL ), an international robotics program, to increase awareness and understanding of technical communication as a practice and a profession, not only among the elementary and middle school students who participate in the program but also among the larger group of adults who serve as FLL judges, coaches, mentors, and spectators. The chapter suggests that the 2011 Food Factor Challenge, with some modifications, may offer a model for educating children about food safety in conjunction with technical communication. FLL encourages teams to employ diverse genres and media, such as a talk, skit, poster, website, slideshow, poem, song, and/or exhibit. Some of these forms are usually classified as creative writing rather than technical communication, but their primary purpose in the challenge was to communicate technical or scientific information rather than just to entertain or delight.