Huron Expositor, 2016-06-01, Page 3Wednesday, June 1, 2016 • Huron Expositor 3
CHSS physics students compete in robotics challenge
Justin Prince
Special to the Expositor
It is 9:10 a.m. as first period is well
underway at Central Huron Second-
ary School in Clinton. Most of the
institution'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 Phys-
ics 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 minutes. 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 encour-
age their drivers as they try to put them
into their respective baskets.
"I think the challenge was amaz-
ing," said Ryan, a physics and physi-
cal 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 Hip-
pos,' where people grabbed the balls.
"It was interesting to see students
struggle with their designs and their
driving skills, but they remained sup-
portive 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 stu-
dents had three minutes to try and
modify - or in some cases fix - their
robots, which they had been work-
ing 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 Maitland
District School Board. She explained
some of her colleagues at CHSS have
an interest in new types of technol-
ogy, all 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 commu-
nity donor gave the school the $8,000
it needed to buy the robotic kits.
"It was quite intimidating at first
for me to figure out how to fit (the
robots) into the program," said
I think the challenge
was amazing," said
Monica Ryan, a physics
and physical education
teacher at Central
Huron Secondary
School in Clinton. 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 struggle with
their designs and their
driving skills, but they
remained supportive of
each other."
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 CHSS
this September.
Justin Prince
A group of physics students at Central Huron Secondary
School 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.
Grade 12 student Zak Goos, 17, makes some final
adjustments to his team's robot before a class challenge
May 20.
A robot built by Grade 12 physics students prepares to
drop a tennis ball into a small box during a class challenge
at Central Huron Secondary School May 20.
ea ort uronex s ositor.co
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A Parkbridge Community
A pair of Central
Huron Secondary
School students
watch over their
robot while trying
to get a tennis
ball into their
basket during a
competition May
20.
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