EDMONTON - As they say in the FIRST LEGO League world championships: 3, 2, 1 LEGO!

About three dozen teams of children between the ages of 9 and 14 carefully manoeuvred the robots they'd made out of LEGO blocks, electronics and computer software around a pool table-sized obstacle course on Saturday in hopes of winning a spot at the FIRST LEGO League championships in Atlanta in April.

Their mission: to move alternative energy sources -- like a hydroelectric dam made of LEGO, tiny barrels of oil from a LEGO-constructed off shore energy platform -- around the obstacle course using robots made from the colourful plastic building blocks.

With giant video screens overhead capturing every move and speakers blasting loud rock music through a college gymnasium, the competition had the same feel as a major sporting event.

Competitors, sporting their team's colours, cheered wildly as their teammates hunched over the tables, intent on guiding their robots to victory.

Chloe Chasse, 10, and her teammates, all students at St. Jerome's Science Academy in Edmonton, were feeling the pressure of being the only all-girls team at the Western Canadian regional competition.

"We're the first-ever all-girls team,'' said team mate Cassidy Ninomiya, 10.

"I think we can do it. We're pretty good,'' chimed in Jordan Dozorec, 10.''

Asked whether it may be tougher to get girls interested in science and robots, members of the Flying Angels team were adamant that their gender has nothing to do with it.

"Girls will like science. We like science just as much as boys do,'' said Chasse.

While the Flying Angels concentrated on their robot's technique, parents were hunting down missing LEGO blocks, handing out lunches and lending moral support.

"It's absolutely nerve-wracking,'' laughed Chasse's father, Andre.

"First of all it promotes team work. It certainly promotes friendly competition but, especially for the girl's team, its an opportunity to showcase some of their interest in science and technology which doesn't always happen,'' he said.

For tournament director Mark Archibald -- the chairman of the electronic engineering department at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology -- the competition is a way to get kids excited about science in a completely hands-on way.

"They get to throw themselves into a project using something like LEGO, which they love to work with, as opposed to a dry textbook sort of science,'' he said.

Competitors will often have to tweak their robot designs or software programs, sometimes on the spot, and that challenges their skills, said Archibald.

"It's a great way to learn critical thinking skills and design skills while having a whole heap of fun,'' he said.

Teams are also judged on technical presentations and team work.

The winning team from the Edmonton competition is the Alberta Longhorn Robotics Society from Calgary.

Other regional events are also held in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia, Archibald said.

While the first world championship event held in 1999 attracted about 9,500 children, by 2006 the tournament had grown to host 8,846 teams and 90,000 children from countries around the world.

On its website, the FIRST LEGO League's mission statement says the annual competition is a way to "provide an inspirational learning experience'' by combining education with hands-on challenges that empower children to create their own theories and solutions.

The 2007 world championships in Atlanta will be held April 17-19.