Friday, August 25, 2017

For Immediate Release

Nauset Regional Middle School Students and Teachers Hack
SeaPerch ROVs

ORLEANS, MA –  Students in the 2017 Summer Science Institute program at Nauset Regional Middle School prepared to investigate the local estuary as they attached cameras, LED lights and water collection equipment to their newly built SeaPerch underwater robots. The students and their teachers developed their engineering skills while working on model remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to use for exploring local aquatic environments.

Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS) Education Specialist and Holbrook Junior/Senior High School science teacher, Jason Welch, joined the program as a featured presenter. He provided students and their teachers with an opportunity to set up electrical wiring to control the movement and lighting of their ROVs. Welch showed participants how to hack their basic SeaPerch models and upgrade them by attaching an underwater camera, electric solenoids (one-way valves) for automated water sample collection, and even a plankton tow. With their modified ROVs, students plan to collect water samples from local sources as evidence of the importance of appreciating and caring for water resources.

By engineering their own submersibles, students practiced identifying problems and designing solutions. For example, when the ROV was not functioning correctly, participants located broken or disconnected wires and used their soldering skills to reconnect them. They also learned how to safely wire electronics for use in marine environments and overcame technical challenges.

The inquiry-based SeaPerch marine robotics program at the Museum Institute for Teaching Science (a non-profit professional development organization) provides both students and teachers with hands-on engineering experience and supports the revised Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Standards. To learn more about SeaPerch at MITS, go to: www.mits.org or call 617-328-1515.

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The Museum Institute for Teaching Science specializes in providing hands-on, minds-on, inquiry-based STEM professional development for formal and informal educators. For more information, visit www.mits.org or call 617-328-1515.