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Huddled around a table with other members of The Lego Bros., a Clinton-based robotics team for youth, 11-year-old Anthony Griffin Jr. didn't take his eyes off the robotic car the team had built using Lego pieces as it jerked around an obstacle course.

When the car jumped off track and rammed into one of the barriers, Anthony, who lives in Fort Washington, began testing different parts of the car with his teammates. After tinkering for a few minutes, they discovered the culprit: The back wheel was loose.

"It may sound easy, but it's not," Anthony said. Figuring out how to make the car move properly is "fun, but it's tough."

The Lego Bros. is one of 158 teams of young engineers throughout Maryland participating in the First Lego League, an international program that promotes math and science by introducing robotics technology to young people ages 9 to 14.

First Lego League teams build robotic cars using Lego pieces and carry out an original research project on an annual theme; this year's theme was about improving transportation.

The First Lego League began in 1998, but The Lego Bros. team only started in September. Team coach Shante Stokes, an educator with 4-H, secured a $1,000 grant from the National 4-H Council and JCPenney Afterschool Fund to purchase materials and cover any other costs.

The inaugural team members include Anthony; David Barnes, 12, of Brandywine; Nathaniel Brown, 11, of Clinton; Michael Forrest, 9, of Upper Marlboro; Malik Johnson, 12, of Cheltenham; Trevor Ross, 10, of Waldorf; and Kevin Hinton, 10, of Upper Marlboro.

The team has met twice a week since September in a classroom at the University of Maryland Extension office in Clinton. Stokes and another volunteer, Katherine Stambaugh, have helped the boys learn how to build the robotic car and program different tasks using special computer programs.

"Often times, we would come up with an idea, and it wouldn't work," Stokes said. "If someone didn't like an idea, we would all vote on it."

The boys — Stokes said she hopes to recruit some female members next year — share a passion for experimenting with the colorful building blocks.

"Clay, it always falls apart; but Legos, you get to make it more firmly, and it stays there," Nathaniel said.

First Lego League teams also compete at local events to qualify for the annual World Festival in April in Atlanta. Teams are judged on the ability of their robotic car to complete "missions" — different tasks around an obstacle course — and also on a presentation the team puts together on the annual theme. This year's theme was transportation, so The Lego Bros. studied ways to ease traffic around the Capital Beltway.

The team took top honors at a local competition in Baltimore on Jan. 16, winning first place in the robot design category and second place in the performance category. Stokes said they had trouble getting the robot to work during the Jan. 30 statewide competition at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, but still took home the "Against All Odds" award for their good attitude. Stokes also received a Special Senatorial Citation from Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Dist. 34) of Abingdon for her commitment to science, math and technology education.

Tia Barnes, whose son David is homeschooled, said the program has not only introduced him to students with similar interests but developed his critical-thinking skills.

"It gives him a practical means to apply what he's learned in math and science," she said.

Anthony said he enjoyed coming to The Lego Bros. because it provides access to more Lego pieces than he has at home.

"You build it, you destroy it — maybe by accident — you make something else, you make it bigger," he said.