For children grade K-4, FIRST® LEGO® League Junior (FLL Jr.) young children's curiosity and directs it toward discovering the wonders of science and technology. This program features a real-world scientific concept to be explored through research, teamwork, construction, and imagination. Throughout the program year, adult coaches guide teams building a moving model made of LEGO® bricks to and developing a Show Me Poster to illustrate their journey. NSBE’s FLL Jr. showcase takes place at the Annual Convention. Students must be a participant of an active NSBE Jr. chapter.

Tomorrow’s innovators practice imaginative thinking and teamwork. Guided by two or more adult Coaches, FIRST LEGO League* teams (up to 10 members, grades 4-8**) research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc., and are challenged to develop a solution. They also must design, build, program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS®, then compete on a table-top playing field. NSBE's FIRST LEGO League Championship takes place at the Annual Convention. Students must be a participant of an active NSBE Jr. chapter.

The NSBE Jr. Explorer Technical Innovations Competition is an annual national science fair program. This program gives pre-college students the opportunity to compete in and explore the many applications of science through projects and presentations. As they follow the program calendar, participants submit their project summary and research paper for scoring. Projects and presentations are judged and scored at the national competition. Students conduct research for no more than 12 months before the national competition, which is held at NSBE’s Annual Convention.

Try-Math-A-Lon (TMAL) is a yearlong tutoring program meant to foster good study habits for minority students, groom them for success in STEM courses, help prepare them for standardized exams such as the ACT and SAT, and promote healthy competition and good sportsmanship. The TMAL competition is held between teams of four NSBE Jr. members and one alternate. Each team is composed of high school students in grades 9–10 or 11–12.  Participants are provided access to an online mathematics resource to support their yearlong learning. This tool enables students to earn points during the program year, as they engage in various activities. Students with the top scores win prizes. Students compete year round and advance to a culminating event at the national competition, which is held at NSBE’s Annual Convention.

The MATHCOUNTS competition is a fun and challenging math program designed for teams of four U.S. middle school students to increase their academic and professional opportunities. During the program year, MATHCOUNTS coaches provide thought-provoking, non-routine, fun problems to engage, challenge and make each participant a better problem solver. A circuit of exams is given to students at their NSBE Fall Regional Conference, which is held in October or November. The first- and second-place winner from each region competes at NSBE's Annual Convention. Participants are provided access to an online mathematics resource to support their yearlong learning.

VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) is an exciting engineering challenge for high school students, presented in the form of a game. Year round students, with guidance from their advisors and mentors, build innovative robots and compete year-round in a variety of matches. In addition to learning valuable engineering skills, students gain life skills such as teamwork, perseverance, communication, project management - and critical thinking. The VEX Robotics Competition prepares students to become future innovators: 95 percent of participants report an increased interest in STEM subject areas and pursuing STEM-related careers. NSBE's VEX Robotics championship takes place at the Annual Convention.

The NSBE Championship Team Excellence Award Winner will compete at the 2017 VEX Robotics World Championship.

Eligibility and Requirements:

           1.) All participants must be active PAID NSBE Jr. members.
           2.) Grades 9-12.
           3.) Attending the 44th Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, PA
           4.) Teams: Minimum of 4 students and a maximum of 10 students.

The Ten80 Student Racing Challenge is a supplemental STEM curriculum of Ten80 Education’s National STEM League. Students in grades 6 – 12 form Ten80 Student Racing Challenge teams that use model (1:10 scale) radio--controlled cars and mimic professional motorsport teams. The first weeks of engagement are spent learning how systems operate and how to organize data, rather than following "build" directions. After being "certified" in mechanical systems, data and problem solving students spend the duration of the program year rebuilding the car with improved parts. Once students master the fundamentals of problem solving, data and mechanical systems, they specialize in areas of personal interest, to include project management, marketing and business. The curriculum specifically addresses Enterprise and Data-Driven Design projects. NSBE’s Ten80 STEM Initiative finals take place at the Annual Convention.

The KidWind Project consists of a team exploring the science behind wind and other renewable forms of energy. The goal is to make renewable energy widely accessible through hands-on activities that are challenging, engaging, and teach basic science and engineering principles. Students dedicate their year of engagement to building a small turbine to produce as much power as possible. They are tasked with thinking about the best construction techniques and the most innovative design to make their turbine operate. This program is open to high school NSBE Jr. members with students in grades 9-12. NSBE’s KidWind Challengecompetition takes place at the Annual Convention.

The Math Video Challenge is an innovative program that empowers students to be math teachers, video producers, actors and artists — all at the same time! Working together in teams, students create their own videos about math problems and the concepts associated with them. Formerly known as the Reel Math Challenge, the Math Video Challenge is designed to get students excited about math while giving them the opportunity to hone their creativity and communication skills. During the year, students form teams consisting of four students each to create a video that teaches the solution to one of the problems from the MATHCOUNTS School Handbook and also demonstrates the real-world application of the math concept used in the problem.

The NSBE Jr. Explorer Technical Innovations Competition is an annual national science fair program. This program gives pre-college students the opportunity to compete in and explore the many applications of science through projects and presentations. As they follow the program calendar, participants submit their project summary and research paper for scoring. Projects and presentations are judged and scored at the national competition. Students conduct research for no more than 12 months before the national competition, which is held at NSBE’s Annual Convention.

Try-Math-A-Lon (TMAL) is a yearlong tutoring program meant to foster good study habits for minority students, groom them for success in STEM courses, help prepare them for standardized exams such as the ACT and SAT, and promote healthy competition and good sportsmanship. The TMAL competition is held between teams of four NSBE Jr. members and one alternate. Each team is composed of high school students in grades 9–10 or 11–12.  Participants are provided access to an online mathematics resource to support their yearlong learning. This tool enables students to earn points during the program year, as they engage in various activities. Students with the top scores win prizes. Students compete year round and advance to a culminating event at the national competition, which is held at NSBE’s Annual Convention.

In the VEX IQ Challenge, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, teams of students are tasked with designing and building a robot to play with other teams in a game-based engineering challenge. Classroom STEM concepts are put to the test as students learn lifelong skills in teamwork, leadership, communication and more. NSBE's VEX IQ Tournament will be held at Annual Convention.

Future City is a program that focuses on improving STEM skills in students by providing an exciting educational engineering experience that combines a stimulating engineering challenge with an inquiry-based application to present their vision of a city of the future.

Middle school students will be asked to imagine, design, and build cities of the future. After designing a virtual city (using SimCity), researching, designing, and writing up their solution to a city-wide issue and building a scale model of their city, teams will present their vision to a panel of judges. NSBE’s Future City Competition will take place at the Annual Convention.