MOORESVILLE – More than 20 Junior FIRST Lego League teams met at Pine Lake Preparatory on Feb. 17 and 18 to showcase their work.

The theme for this year’s event was Body Forward, and students were challenged to learn about different aspects of biomedical engineering, such as injury repair and overcoming genetic predispositions, to tap into the body’s potential. Each team researched a topic and then created an exhibit entirely out of Legos using that research.

Pine Lake Preparatory launched its Junior Engineer League in October with more than 110 students in first through fifth grades, as an extension of its initiative, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiative. Lego teams include Creative Engineers, who focus on building simple machines through instructional design; Physics Engineers, who experiment with forces, friction, distance, time, speed and weight; and Mindstorm Engineers, who use technical building elements and software to create robots programmed to complete specified tasks.

This is the third year the league has participated in the FIRST Lego challenge.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, N.H., the nonprofit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

Find out how to register for a FIRST event at the organization’s website, www.usfirst.org.