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. All classes use partner building, small groups, and opportunities for solo exploration with brick engineering.
To register for science exploration or brick engineering/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 before registration for more information about scholarship opportunities.
Spring class registration opens mid-January, Summer Camp registration opens mid-February, and Fall class registration opens around mid-September each year. Keep an eye on the Education tab for seasonal openings.
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. Students will work together to build on a themed mat using Duplo and Early Simple Machine kits.
6 Year Olds
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. Working together, students will explore a fun introduction to robotics and brick engineering on a themed mat.
7 Year Olds
Spring: Junior Engineers are introduced to coding, brick engineering, and robotics through WeDo 2.0, Spike Essential, and Scratch Coding.
6-7 Year Olds
Summer and Fall: Brick Engineering and Introduction to Robotics classes are offered using traditional brick elements, Spike Essentials, WeDo 2.0, and Scratch-based coding.
Brick Engineering and Introduction to Robotics classes are offered throughout the year using traditional brick elements, Spike Prime robotics coding, stop motion animation, engineering challenges, etc.
Spring: FIRST® LEGO® League Experience classes are offered each Spring for homeschool, afterschool, and Saturday sessions. Registration opens mid-January each year.
Summer: We offer Summer Camps based on FIRST® LEGO® League three times each year. We also offer general robotics/engineering/design-based camps for our Rookie Robotics students to explore innovation and team-building skills.
LEGO® LEAGUE Challenge (Ages 10 - 14)
The Greensboro Science Center sponsors several teams for the FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) season. FLL is an international competition around designing and programming autonomous 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 for 3 hours weekly for at least 10 weeks beginning in August. Students who are selected through an application process are expected to attend the weekly meetings, complete weekly homework assignments, and attend all scrimmages and competitions. Teams compete in a regional FLL tournament in November and, depending on their performance, may advance to the semi-final competition in December and the state competition in January.
All potential new team members must be between the ages of 10 and 14 years old and must attend one prerequisite Spring Class or Summer Camp about FIRST® LEGO® League at the Greensboro Science Center.
In the Spring, these classes are offered for homeschool, after-school, and Saturdays, and are offered 3 times during the Summer Camp season. Classes are designed to teach anyone starting or familiar with robotics in Spike Prime programming, best robotic design practices, project development, and the presentation skills needed for the FLL season.
Spring class registration opens in mid-January, and Summer Camp registration opens in mid-February.
After the prerequisite class/camp, families will be invited to attend an annual “Parent Information Meeting”. We’ll review the application process, team expectations, and an overview of the season.
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 to maintain an active membership throughout their time in FLL.
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 year.
• Legosaurus (Wednesdays 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm) *Homeschool Only
• Flying Robo Puggles (Saturdays 9:00 am – 12:00 pm) *Girls Only
• Natty Narwhals (Saturdays 9:00 am – 12:00 pm)
• Komodo Coders (Saturdays 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm)
• Brick Busters (Sundays 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm)
• Techno Tamarins (Sundays 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm)