Life comes with many twists and turns, much like a jungle. And you must be able to quickly adapt, learn to innovate and create to survive. On Jan. 31, robotics students from school districts across Harris County attended CASE for Kids 2025-2026 All-Earth Ecobot Challenge Reveal and Practice Day to learn about this year’s challenge – “Kingdom of Ecobot: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink.”  

Click here to view the photo gallery.

The prompt encourages students in fourth through eighth grades to design, build and program autonomous robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Core robotics kits. Each team will then use its robots to complete a series of missions that educate the next generation on the various methods and purposes of recycling, such as composting, alternative energy sources and building homes from upcycled materials.      

During the practice day, students were guided through point-scoring strategies, mission-specific rules, game table set-up and game piece placement. Out-of-school time coaches will work with students over the coming months to perfect their robot-building skills and teach them to navigate and complete challenges within the four quadrants of the game table.  

CASE for Kids facilitates the All-Earth Ecobot Challenge as a hands-on, project-based learning model that uses robotics to help students navigate real-world environmental challenges. The division is expected to host hundreds of students from afterschool programs within the greater Houston area to compete in this year’s competition. Participating students and coaches will attend the next official practice day on Feb. 21, which will culminate in Challenge Day on April 25.