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What students learn today will help fuel your company tomorrow - investing in their future is a great investment in yours!

4-person student teams build and learn to program autonomous robots to accomplish tasks on a competition table related to energy generation and environmental awareness such as recycling, reusing, and reducing, flipping light switches on, opening gates, angling solar panels toward the sun, trading off high energy consuming for low energy consuming products, powering generators, etc. drives home the applicability of school-time and out-of-school time learning shows students how improving and adding to their skills can help them lead productive lives welcomes student teams as comprised though schools, community organizations or youth groups uses LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education NXT Homeschool Pack

I watched as my students were incredibly excited, motivated and challenged to be
"doing" science. They finally "got it" that science is about trying something, improving
on it, trying it again and so on! I also felt like I was really opening a door to possible
career choices for my students! - Teacher and EcoBot Team Leader

What are the objectives of the competition?

• To inspire students to appreciate how smart they really are and how much learning can take place in a single day!
• Student teams are challenged to apply what they know to solve problems for which they have been given no prior procedure
• To experience and practice teamwork skills in real-time, under deadline pressure
• Positive social interactions in a large peer group setting in a fun but competitive environment
• To hone critical thinking, observational and problem solving skills
• To expose students to young volunteers with careers in math and science
• To introduce students to community colleges and institutions of higher learning in our region
• To provide opportunities for young learners to see how they can solve real world problems with the skills they are learning in the classroom
• To teach disciplined time management and the value of intellectual collaboration, hard work and persistence
• To cater to siblings & younger children on competition day & to build EcoBot as a family event

By enabling them to have great fun developing vital skills competitively, we inspire them to pursue careers key to our region's prominence in the future!

Want to know what students, teachers, and parents said about the 2010 Challenge? See the video here.

What's all hype? See the news coverage and press releases about Ecobot here.

See how EcoBot Challenge is impacting our future by Knowing the Story.

To support the EcoBot Challenge, become a Team Sponsor and to inspire children to solve real-world problems, please visit this link.

Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE)

CASE is committed to building partnerships, providing resources, leadership and training that support quality after-school programs in Harris County.

The Harris County Department of Education formed the Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE) in 1999, to mobilize the community to work together to ensure that every child in Harris County gains access to an after-school program. CASE is endorsed by all 26 Harris County Independent School District Superintendents and by Houston's Joint City/County Commission on Children. After-school programs keep kids safe, help working families, and improve academic achievement.

External Evaluations of CASE programs have documented:

• Increases in Math and English standardized test scores
• Teacher reports of improved student preparation
• Teacher reports of improved student behavior
• Students feel safer after-school
• Students look forward to going to school

CASE believes that after-school programs are the place where parents, families and communities can come together to support the education and development of our children. CASE services are built on the following value sets: Engagement & Enrichment Safe Environment & Nurturing Relationships Community & Family Collaboration & Service Choice & Voice

Through Texas Education Agency (TEA) funds, CASE manages 21st century Community Learning Centers at 40 of the 71 after-school sites it serves. Three ISD's and two Charter Schools host Partnership programs with CASE at 31 different campuses.

CASE projects serve over 8,000 PreK-12 students daily, providing activities such as:

• Homework assistance and tutoring
• Computer classes
• Arts and crafts
• Performing Arts Instruction
• Math and Science Clubs
• Physical Education and Recreational Sports
• Etiquette Classes
• Martial Arts
• Cooking

Take a look at the CASE Fact Sheet for more information on all of their programs, including:

After School Initiative
The Harris County Afterschool Initiative (ASI) is a collaboration between the Education Foundation, CASE and the after-school community. ASI has developed a collaborative network of quality after-school programs, providers and advocates. The partnership is an effort to build capacity in the field of after-school by developing systems of support such as this online clearinghouse (After School Zone), establishing Models for quality after-school programming, and offering a set of local guiding principles that are responsive to the issues and the needs of our community. ASI continuously seeks out funding opportunities for high-quality after-school programming in Harris County.

Afterschoolzone is the virtual meeting place to share resources, know-how and innovative ideas. ASI uses this web site to update the community about funding opportunities, highlight model projects, and connect the community with after-school activities all across Harris County.

CASE Kids' Days
Kids' Days are fun, educational, projects that connect after-school programs to the world of work. They give students opportunities to work with professionals in the math, science and technology fields. Kids' Days are created in collaboration with local corporations and non-profit organizations. Students participating in Kids' Day projects spend 8-12 weeks working through well-developed, high-quality, and topic-specific curricula in their after-school programs. After completing the relevant curriculum, students gather for a culminating Kids' Day event where they have an opportunity to share and celebrate their knowledge with other students from across Harris County.

Any local business or corporation can become involved in after-school education - call us!

2010-2011 Kids’ Day Series

Kids' Day Space Science at Texas Southern University
Event Date: December 3, 2010
Event Time: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Event Location: Texas Southern University, School of Technology, 3100 Cleburne Street, Houston, TX 77004
Participating students in kindergarten through fourth grade explore a variety of topics related to space science. By studying the solar system, interacting with professionals working in the space science field and analyzing the scientific principles surrounding flight, students gain insight into many subjects familiar to astronauts and space scientists.

All-Earth EcoBot Challenge
Event Date: April 16, 2011
Event Time: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Event Location: University of Houston Alumni Center
The All-Earth EcoBot Challenge is a robotics competition for fifth through eighth graders. Students program their robots to complete a series of pre-determined activities, demonstrating recycling, reusing, reducing waste and conserving waste. In addition, students devise a marketing plan to promote their EcoBot to potential consumers.

Kids' Day at HP
Event Date: May 3, 2011
Event Time: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Event Location: Hewlett-Packard, 20555 SH 249, Houston, TX, 77070
Participating students in this after-school program have the opportunity to design and market their own fictional robots and build robots capable of surviving various challenges. At the event, students visit an HP facility where they will present their marketing campaigns and maneuver their robots through obstacles designed by HP engineers.

Houston Energy City of the Future 2050
Event Date: May 13, 2011
Event Time: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Event Location: Houston Community College - Northeast Campus
Students learn about alternative forms of energy. For the final event, students are expected to create a PowerPoint presentation on the energy industry and build a scale model of an energy efficient city of Houston for the year 2050. This Kids' Day is offered to students in grades sixth through twelfth.

Kids' Day Entrepreneurship
Event Date: TBA
Event Time: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Event Location: TBA
Participating studentsl experience the challenges and opportunities associated with entrepreneurship, marketing and money management. Students will open "stores" in the Kids' Day Market and use their knowledge of buying, selling, spending and saving to operate their businesses.

Kids' Day Collaborative Arts
Event Date: June 30, 2011
Event Time: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Event Location: Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
The event gives students an opportunity to perform and/or display artistic works created as part of the Collaborative Arts Program summer curriculum. Local artists contract to provide instruction and guidance on the day of the performance to area kindergarten through high school students.

Here are some examples of past Kids’ Days:

Kids' Day GPS Students combine skills learned in history, geography, math, and technology while using a GPS device to navigate a series of obstacles and clues in downtown Houston. Participants work in groups to perform pre-determined tasks; once the task has been completed they will be directed to the next destination. The first team to arrive at the last destination is rewarded. This Kids' Day is offered to students in grades fifth through eighth.

Kids' Day Space Science Participating students in kindergarten through fourth grade explore a variety of topics related to space science. By studying the solar system, interacting with professionals working in the space science field, and analyzing the scientific principles surrounding flight, students gain insight into many subjects familiar to astronauts and space scientists.

All-Earth EcoBot Challenge
The All-Earth EcoBot Challenge is a workforce development initiative for fifth through eighth graders. It is also a festival of youthful engineering and imagination, a robotics wonderland and a great deal of fun. Students program autonomous robots to complete missions on a competition table, such as recycling, reusing, and reducing waste or trading high energy consuming machines for energy efficient models. Among other things, students learn "green" renewable energy sources are vital because technologies can lengthen the period of time during which non-renewables remain available. The Challenge "opens" at the first of the year and culminates in April.

Energy City of the Future 2050
Students learn about alternative forms of energy. For the culminating event, students create a PowerPoint presentation and a public service announcement on the energy industry and build a 3-d, scale model of an energy efficient city of Houston for the year 2050 - all out of recycled materials! Engineers from local oil and gas companies comprise the Judges Chairs for the competition to ensure that Houston retains its prominence in the year 2050. This Kids' Day is offered to students in grades eighth through twelfth.

Kids' Day at HP
Participating students in this after-school program are given the opportunity to design and market their own fictional robots and build robots capable of surviving various challenges. At the culminating event on the HP Campus, students will visit facilities where they will present their marketing campaigns and maneuver their robots through obstacles designed by HP engineers.

Kids' Day at the Hobby Center
The event provides students an opportunity to perform and/or display artistic works created as part of the Collaborative Arts Program summer curriculum. Local artists will be contracted to provide instruction and guidance on the day of the performance to area kindergarten through high schools.