Friendly competition is at the heart of FIRST LEGO League Challenge, as teams of students in upper elementary engage in research, problem-solving, coding and engineering - building and programming an autonomous LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game.  

As part of Challenge, teams also participate in a research project to identify and solve a real-world problem of their choosing centering around the annual theme.

Teams meet twice a week to fulfill four criteria to be used in judging at regional events. Each topic is equally weighted: The Robot Game, The Innovation Project, Robot Design and Programming, and FIRST Core Values

The theme of Challenge changes every year and is based on a real-world scientific topic.  Past challenges have included topics such as space, recycling, transportation, energy, and Arts in STEM.