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Creating some 'young engineers to-be'GREENVILLE, Aug 01, 2011 (The Herald Banner - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Greenville Sixth Grade Education Center is establishing a pre-engineering/competition robotics team and program this fall. "It is not widely known, but, as a group, engineers are the most creative persons on the planet," said Johnny Tharp, Greenville Independent School District Robotics Facilitator and Instructor for grades 1-8. "They invent and create things that have had a tremendous impact on how we lead our lives today. They have given us automobiles, computers, cell phones and video games to name a few. This program will give young engineers-to-be, a way to become their creative best." Interested parties are requested to drop by the school between today and Thursday to fill out an application, available in the school office, for the program. A maximum of 16 students will be accepted into the program from the applications received. It is requested that all students seeking to participate have passed all portions of the TAKS test. This program will help prepare students for the STEM Academy at the high school with the focus of the program being on robotic principles and how they are used today. Students will learn the principles behind: microcontrollers and transmitters; speed, power, torque and DC Motors; gears, chains and sprockets; advanced gears; friction and traction; drivetrain design; sensors; rotating joints; switches; object manipulation; and engineering design groups. The program will be presented in a new class this year, which will meet daily. Those chosen to participate in the program will build VEX competition robots and will form teams similar to the high school robotics team, the Robowranglers. The team will compete in at least four or five competitions throughout the school year, with the first set for Nov. 5. "This program gives back to students at the Sixth Grade Center by allowing them to use their creativity in designing and testing VEX robots while applying introductory engineering principles learned in the classroom," said Tharp. "It has been shown that competition between teams adds to this experience; therefore, students will take their robot designs to local tournaments in cities such as Dallas, Houston and Tyler and if they qualify, they will attend the VEX World Championship in Anaheim, Calif. "This program will be continued in the Middle School and when they go to Greenville High School, they can become members of the World Champion Robowranglers." To see more of The Herald-Banner, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.heraldbanner.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Herald Banner, Greenville, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |