Brick Engineering & Robotics
The Greensboro Science Center offers a variety of Brick Engineering and Robotics camps/classes throughout the year for ages 5-14. Spring and Fall classes are available during the day for homeschool and in the afternoon for traditional school students. Each class/camp is designed to be developmentally appropriate and promotes- teamwork, communication, spatial awareness, collaboration, and thoughtful application of the engineering design process.
Students interested in joining the FIRST® LEGO® League team for 10-14 year olds must complete one of our Spring or Summer camp FLL prerequisite classes. More information on FLL Challenge down below.
To register for science exploration or brick engineer/robotics classes– select the upcoming/current season tab under Education for class descriptions, schedules, registration links and additional information. Limited scholarships are available for all classes and camps, please contact camps@greensboroscience.org prior to registration for more information.
Age Groups
Spring: FIRST® LEGO® League Discover classes meet for 6 weeks each Spring. This class introduces team building, project planning, and imagination using traditional Duplo brick elements.
Summer: Brick Engineering with Duplo Simple Machines, traditional brick building; introduction to unplugged and icon based coding.
Spring: FIRST® LEGO® League Explore classes meet for 6-8 weeks each Spring. Teams of 6 students meet weekly to explore the year’s theme. More information below under FLL: Explore.
Summer and Fall: Brick Engineering and Introduction to Robotics classes are offered using traditional brick elements, Spike Essentials, WeDo 1.0 or 2.0, Scratch-based coding.
Spring: FIRST® LEGO® League Experience classes (which meets the prerequisite required for applying for a FLL Challenge team upon turning 10 years old) are offered throughout the week and on weekends. These classes prepare students to apply for a FLL Challenge team by introducing team building, Spike Prime robotics, and project development. Other classes may include traditional brick element building challenges, robotics, coding, and traditional material engineering challenges.
Summer and Fall: Brick Engineering and Introduction to Robotics classes are offered using traditional brick elements, Spike Prime robotics coding, stop motion animation, engineering challenges, etc. FIRST® LEGO® League pre-requisite camps are offered throughout the summer, look for “ FIRST® LEGO® League” beside select camp names.
LEGO® LEAGUE EXPLORE (AGES 6 - 7)
Explore is a fun introduction to working as a team to design and build simple robots using bricks, motors, and icon-based programming. Guided by coaches, teams will learn about the theme for each challenge season and work together to develop innovative solutions to today’s real-world problems. Students will receive a team t-shirt and are invited to participate in a showcase hosted by GSC in May.
FLL: Explore registration for the 2024 Masterpiece season will open mid-January 2024. Classes will meet for 6-8 weeks for 1.5 hours. This class also includes a special weekend expo event with community teams.
LEGO® LEAGUE (AGES 10 - 14)
The Greensboro Science Center is sponsoring several teams for the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) season. FLL is an international competition that revolves around designing and programming LEGO Spike Prime robots to complete challenges on a themed mat. Students also learn team building skills and create innovative solutions for challenges facing today’s scientists. For more information about the international FLL program, visit www.firstinspires.org.
GSC teams meet once a week beginning in late August for 3 hours. Students who participate on teams are expected to attend the weekly meetings and do any homework assignments. Teams will also be competing in a regional FLL tournament and will have the possibility to advance to the state competition depending on their performance at the regional tournament.
Our Teams
Team times and availability are subject to change due to staffing and space availability. All teams will be finalized before the Parent Info Meeting each Fall.
- Legosaurus (Wednesdays 1:00pm – 4:00pm) *Homeschool Only
- Flying Robo Puggles (Saturdays 9:00am – 12:00pm) *Girls Only
- Natty Narwhals (Saturdays 9:00am – 12:00pm)
- Brick Busters (Saturdays 2:00pm – 5:00pm)
- Techno Tamarins (Sundays 1:00pm – 4:00pm)
- Komodo Coders (Sundays 1:00pm-4:00pm)
Who can join?
To compete on a GSC FLL team, students must be between the ages of 10 and 14 (10 by the start of the season Sept. 1 of current year, no older than 14 as of the current challenge year and not in high school). Students must also have previously taken an eligible GSC Spike Prime programming class.
Prerequisite classes will be noted in either their name or information in the class description. These classes are only offered in the spring and summer, see our education page for current season offerings. Families must make the commitment to be available on their selected team day between August 17th and November 18th, with the possibility of extending the season to January 18th.
Parent Information Meeting
Qualified students who have successfully completed one of the prerequisite classes at GSC will be invited to attend an in-person Parent Information Meeting on August 8th, 2024 from 6pm – 7pm. This meeting is mandatory for all parents who are interested in signing up their students for Greensboro Science Center FLL. We will go over registration, introduce the Robot Game and Project, and discuss how the meetings and competitions will work.
Cost
$300 per participant.
This includes a minimum of 10 team meetings, special team events like Team Night and a Roborama Scrimmage, a team t-shirt, competition registrations, and any supplies and costs needed for the team’s participation. The fee will also go towards LEGO® and robot upkeep and team supplies.
Team members are also required to have an active membership at the time of their application and maintain an active membership throughout their time in FLL.
Application
Applications will open August 9th, 2024. The link will only be shared with parents who have attended the Parent Information Meeting or contacted Jessica Linkletter for limited alternative arrangements. Applying for a team does not guarantee a spot. Student behavior and skills will be assessed during their prerequisite class/camp and used to determine eligibility. Those who do not secure a spot this season will be eligible to apply again the following year.