Teams from Dr. Thomas L. Higdon and Indian Head elementary schools, as well as Theodore G. Davis, Matthew Henson, Mattawoman and Piccowaxen middle schools, competed in the 2015 Save the Bay/Chemical Engineering Robotics Challenge held Jan. 31 at North Point High School. The event was sponsored by the National Defense Education Program (NDEP) and is part of the 2014-15 Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Technology Division (NSWC IHEODTD) In-School Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program.
The event featured two levels of competition: one for fifth-grade teams, the Save the Bay challenge, and one for eighth-grade teams, the Chemical Engineering challenge. Awards are given in four categories: Robotics, Technical, Research and Overall. During the event, teams were required to complete challenges with their robots on challenge boards representing the Chesapeake Bay and a chemical pilot plant. Students from St. Mary’s County Public Schools and area private schools also competed in the event.
At the elementary-school level, the Higdon “Oyster Haulers” team won first place in the Robotics category. During the Robotics portion of the challenge, teams were required to complete up to eight challenges with their robots within three minutes. Team members include fifth graders Koda DeAtley, Walker Gordon, Logan Mattingly, Molly Mudd and Julie Ray. Team coaches are Tarra Heasley, science teacher at Higdon, and Kristen Lednum, a learning resource teacher at Higdon.
Two Charles County Public Schools teams placed at the middle-school level. The “Who?” team from Mattawoman earned third place in the Robotics category. Student members of the team include Caila Coates, Chontelle Freeman, Nadjia Haskins, Adrianna Sibley and Tyler Ulmschneider. The team coach is John Paine, a science teacher at Mattawoman.
The “Infinites” team from Piccowaxen earned a third-place award in the Technical category. Team members include Katie Czysz, Zachary Harris, Alan Saunders, Alyssa Simpson, Jessica Ward and Emily Wise. The team coach is Victoria Farrell, a science teacher at Piccowaxen.
The in-school STEM program was launched at the competing Charles County schools earlier this school year. Over a period of three months, engineers serve as mentors to help students work with robotics, engineering challenges and scientific investigations studying the Chesapeake Bay and chemical engineering. Teams learn to write computer programs and build robots capable of performing different robotics challenges within a designated time period.
As part of the program, teams are also required to develop research projects related to either the Chesapeake Bay or a chemical process, which they will present to a panel of judges. Once the research presentation portion of the program is complete, awards will be given to teams in the Research and Overall categories.