HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-06-01, Page 1212 News Record • Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Photos courtesy of Justin Prince
A group of physics students at C.H.S.S. have a good laugh while testing their robot prior to the start
of a class competition on May 20. The Grade 12 students had spent the past few months designing
and building their robots for this challenge.
One student at C.H.S.S. adjusts his robot.
C.H.S.S. physics students compete in robotics challenge
Justin Prince
Special to the New Record
It is 9:10 a.m. and first period is
well underway at Central Huron
S.S. in Clinton. Most of the institu-
tion's 530 students are busy in class
taking notes or writing tests, except
for the occasional group of friends
hanging out in the hallways.
Meanwhile, inside the school's
small gym is Monica Ryan's 4U
Physics class. The students are all
staring towards the centre of the
room at a pile of tennis balls sitting
inside a hula -hoop. One person in
each group of three students set up
around the gym is holding a remote
controller, listening intently to
Ryan as she counts down towards
the start of her class's robotics
challenge.
Within seconds, as Ryan says the
word zero, she moves the hula
hoop out of the way, and the five
robots set up on the edge of the
gym floor come to life, all sprinting
forward to get as many tennis balls
as possible in a span of five min-
utes. As the robots try to grab as
many of the yellow and white balls
as they can, students from each
team are trying to guide and
encourage their drivers as they try
to put them into their respective
baskets.
"I think the challenge was
amazing," said Ryan, a physics
and physical education teacher at
the school, after the competition
May 20. She noted the challenge
was inspired by a student event
from earlier in the school year,
dubbed 'Hungry Hippos; where
people grabbed the balls. "It was
interesting to see students strug-
gle with their designs and their
driving skills, but they remained
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supportive of each other."
Those modifications, as well as
a driver change, would happen
after the end of what would be the
first of three rounds. The Grade 12
students had three minutes to try
and modify - or in some cases fix
- their robots, which they had
been working on for months with
the initial goal of outscoring their
colleagues.
"It was fun and pretty competi-
tive," said 17 -year-old Zak Goos, a
student from the winning team.
"All our work paid off."
For Ryan, her interest in robotics
was first sparked while attending a
technology conference in the U.S.
last year, through the Avon Mait-
land District School Board. She
explained some of her colleagues
at C.H.S.S. have an interest in new
types of technology and trying to
figure out ways to add them to their
lesson plans.
It was at that time she decided
she wanted to pursue adding
robotics into her physics program,
and asked the school for the equip-
ment needed last September.
Shortly after her request, a com-
munity donor gave the school the
$8,000 it needed to buy the robotic
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kits.
"It was quite intimidating at first
for me to figure out how to fit (the
robots) into the program," said
Ryan, who noted the equipment
did not arrive until a few days
before the current semester
started. "I let the enthusiasm of the
kids help guide the process."
Ryan explained her students
originally built standard robots
during class. The kits had included
instructions for their basic compo-
nents including a claw to pick up
the balls, according to Goos. The
class then decided they wanted to
have a bit more of a challenge,
which led to the competition itself.
Ryan found that once they
started designing their own robots,
that's when the class developed
and showed their problem solving
and creativity skills.
For Goos, Cassie Dutot and
Grady Semple's robot, their modifi-
cations included a back bar to grab
the tennis balls.
"The whole building experience
was probably the best part," said
Dutot as her teammates agreed.
"We had to do a lot of the modifica-
tions changing what our original
design was and altering it until we
got to [the final design]."
Ryan expressed the importance
of encouraging students to be crea-
tive in today's world.
"[As we] move kids into the 21st
century, we want them to think
beyond just knowledge," Ryan said.
"We want them to use their knowl-
edge in an effective way."
Ryan plans to look into creating a
year-round robotics club at
C.H.S.S. this September.