Students from W.T. Sampson School's Integrated Science III and Physics Applications classes built their own submersible robots and tested them in the Windjammer Pool at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Nov. 22.

The students are participating in a program called SeaPerch, a K-12 educational outreach program that is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and is managed by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Foundation (AUVSIF).

Opportunities like this are part of W.T. Sampson School's efforts to increase activities related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Joining the SeaPerch program was a good fit for the school as the SeaPerch program was designed to increase student interest in math and science, and, in the process, help identify our next generation of STEM professionals.

The students are currently studying Newton's laws of motion, Archimedes' principle, and fluid mechanics. It took them about three weeks' worth of class time to build an operational robot.

"We have to alternate lecture times and building the robots so the students can see the connection between what they are learning in class and the practical application of their lessons," said Mr. Samuel Ochinang, the students' science teacher at W.T. Sampson School.

Mr. Ochinang added that the students learned about the relationship between water density and buoyancy, so, they properly adjusted the amount of lead weights needed to keep the robot stable and maneuverable underwater. They also learned about the basics of electric circuits in the process of putting together the remote control.

Such real-world experiences cannot be gained by simply reading a textbook and taking a test, making this an invaluable opportunity for the students.

Once the students left the classroom setting and arrived at the pool to test their builds, they faced even more challenges that would provide several more learning opportunities. During the testing phase, three of the six robots were not fully functional.

"One [or] two propellers came off due partly to improper application of glue," said Ochinang. "It was also their first time to test their robots in the pool so most of them had to learn how to navigate the robots through the underwater obstacles using their remotes."

Despite the obstacles, all of the students enjoyed the project and worked together to troubleshoot issues and got their submersible robots through the obstacles located at the bottom of the pool.

More information about SeaPerch can be found at http://www.seaperch.org.

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