If They Build It, They Will Learn
Sixth-Graders Show Off Underwater Robots

By Julie Rasicot
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Neelsville Middle School sixth-grader Vrinda Sabharwal watched intently as a small robot cruised along the bottom of a 140-foot basin at the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in West Bethesda.

It was the maiden voyage for the vehicle, known as a Sea Perch, that Sabharwal and her classmates built for a science project sponsored by the Navy's Office of Naval Research, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

"I didn't think it would actually work," said Sabharwal, 12, as she leaned over the basin's wall to watch her remote-controlled robot maneuver through the water. "I didn't think we would make it so well."

Other sixth-graders from the Germantown school also were delighted to see the propellers begin to whirl once they had lowered the robots -- hollow, boxlike structures made of plastic pipes and foam tubing -- into the water and flipped the control switches.

The reaction was exactly what project coordinator Toby Ratcliffe, a Carderock naval research architect, had been hoping for.

"After all the work in the classroom with students, it's great to see the fruits of their work," she said. "For many of them, this was the first time they had done an engineering project from start to finish."

The testing of the robots last week was the culmination of the school's participation in the Sea Perch program, which teaches students about math, engineering, science and robotics, as well as teamwork and problem-solving skills.

The program, funded by a five-year, $2.4 million grant from the Office of Naval Research, aims to inspire students to think about careers in math, science and engineering, said Susan Giver, director of outreach and strategic development for the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

"People don't know what a naval architect is," she said. "This gives us a chance to educate kids."

Other county schools involved in the program this year are Newport Mill Middle School in Kensington; Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville; Wheaton High School; and Col. E. Brooke Lee and Eastern middle schools and John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring. Students built their Sea Perches in mathematics, engineering and science achievement clubs and tested them at Carderock in April.

The program provides schools with two days of free teacher training, several $100 robot kits and tools, including screwdrivers and soldering irons. Neelsville received 75 kits and tools, worth about $8,000.

The school got involved after Giver had given her niece, sixth-grader Grace Magdamo, a kit to build while she was sick. The 11-year-old took the robot to school, impressing her science teacher and principal.

"Within a week, I was standing in front of 300 sixth-graders," explaining the program at a March assembly, Giver said.

Working in groups of four from early April, students assembled the Sea Perches, which are about a foot long and a foot high, out of plastic pipes, plastic film canisters and cable. The students measured and cut the pipes, used electrical tape and melted wax to waterproof motors and build control boxes. Ratcliffe and other engineers from Carderock helped fine-tune the robots and make sure all parts were working.

Dustin Munro, 11, said his group had no problems connecting wires and building a handheld control box.

"We got it right the first time," he said. "The only really bad thing that happened was that our fuse blew."

Neelsville science teacher Cindy Connolly said the project helped students better understand the laws of motion and energy, as well as learn how to build something.

"You still cut, you still have to solder wires," she said. "It was an amazing project for sixth-graders. To actually build something from scratch is one of the biggest projects we've ever had."

Last week, the sixth-graders traveled in two groups to Carderock, where hundreds of scientists and engineers build and test ship models. The students learned about ship design and saw how sound waves can be used to measure distances.

But the highlight of the day was the robot testing.

Using toggle switches on their control boxes, the students maneuvered the robots through arches made of foam tubing and raced to a finish line.

"It was lot harder to operate than it actually looked," said Laura Hampe, 12. "You expect it to do one thing, and it does something slightly different."

For Kiara Twine, 11, the project demonstrated the importance of working together. "I thought it was going to be hard, but then when I really got into it, it was fun," she said. "But it really takes teamwork. You need teamwork, and you need people who will cooperate with you."