All marking period long, students in Harrington Middle School’s STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — built remotely operated vehicles (ROVs.) On a warm and thankfully sunny early June day, they put their vehicles to the test in the pool at Ramblewood Country Club in Mt. Laurel.
The friendly, in-house competition is a primer to marine work, explained teacher Maureen Barrett.
“Building the ROVs gives the students an introduction to some of the science, technology, engineering, and math required for ocean exploration. Less than 10 percent of our oceans are explored,” said Barrett. “This project may lead some of the students towards ocean-related careers.”
The New Jersey Association for Educational Technology, which paid for cameras and kits, as well as the Mt. Laurel Public Education Fund, who gave money for cameras, funded the project.
30 ROVs are produced each marking period for the Sea Perch competition.
Some of the students at the pool on Tuesday, June 5 had previously competed at the Greater Philadelphia Sea Perch Challenge at Drexel University in March, she said.
The move to Ramblewood Country Club was a first for the class.
Typically, the end of marking period competition has been held at the Burlington County School of Special Services.
“Luckily, the weather cooperated,” said Barrett.
John Goodwin, Ramblewood’s pool owner, lounged by the side of the pool all morning, observing the activities of the students.
“I think it’s tremendous,” he said, pointing out how seriously the kids enter the competition.
“It’s encouraging to see kids showing an interest in the sciences,” he added.
There were various aspects to the competition.
“One of the tasks is capping the well,” said Barrett. “There’s a piece of PVC piping in there and there’s a cap that fits loosely on top of that. It’s simulating an oil spill.”
The ROV has to go down and fix the problem.
“Another task is an obstacle course,” she said. “They have to drive through the hula hoops.”
While at the pool floor, the ROV has to retrieve a dive ring, too.
“ROVs are tethered machines,” Barrett explained. “Feeding the tether in is always something they have to be aware of. It’s not an autonomous vehicle.”
The students were given 50 feet of tethering and cameras were also attached “so they can see what the ROV is seeing.”
In the pool, swimmers helped to set up the scene and take some underwater footage with another camera.
The four student members of Team Zebracorn, a name derived from two of the members liking zebras and unicorns, tediously worked at their end of the pool.
“Apparently I’m the expert driver,” said seventh-grader Lianna Graham from her perch, to which her team members agreed.
Their ROV consisted of materials such as PVC, pool noodles and a net.
“It’s harder than we thought,” said eighth-grader Gabby DeFilippo.
The ROV was hard to move and the wires kept tangling, Gabby explained.
The wires have to be held, said seventh-grader Katelyn Johnson, to avoid the annoying tangling issue.
“It’s kinda like a puzzle,” added fellow eighth-grader Ally Wesoly, but once that puzzle was together, it was great for the team to see their hard work in action.
The ROVs are safe, said Barrett, and materials such as electrical tape, wax and monkey dung are used to waterproof them.
The competition lasted about an hour and 15 minutes.
“I teach six classes,” said Barrett. “Two classes come the first shift, then I drop them off and pick up the next.”
The STEM program is fairly new to the school.
“The district decided they wanted to add a STEM class at Harrington and Hartford and then asked for people to apply,” she said. “We had to pitch ideas if we wanted to apply.”
“I had seen this done at a conference,” she said of the project. “I thought that would be a really fun project. This is engineering at its best.”
The SeaPerch challenge turned out to be more challenging than Barrett originally imagined.
“When I created these challenges, I thought they’d be done in 30 minutes, no problem,” she said. “But, no.”
It took until the third marking period for a team to cap the well.
“They have to work together as a team, they have to communicate,” she said. “It can’t just be one person running off with the ROV.”
