About Sault Area Middle School’s STEM Program:
Sault Area Middle School STEM teacher and program leader, John Twichel, is encouraging his students to dive into the wonders of STEM. A former 5th grade teacher, Twichel is now teaching 150 6th and 7th grade students, with a mission that, "In everything we do, we believe that tomorrow's innovators are today's STEM students. Our goal is to engage and inspire. We provide real-world, hands-on experiences that focus on teamwork, collaboration, and critical thinking." As a part of the program, Twichel is teaching about discharge rate, amp hours, and other technical theories that explain how batteries function and power their robots. When asked about how the student’s learning is going, Twichel says, “These students are so eager to learn and gobble up every concept. They’re like sponges and I’m the Super Soaker!” His students have quickly picked up these concepts and are eager to participate in the hands-on projects of robotics building.
Twichel dedicates most of the funds from grants and donations to an intensive robotics program, which includes bots that are built from scratch and maintained by students. The STEM program participants focus on teamwork and communication, and each student is delegated a different role, such as an engineer or project manager. The students then work together to build their robots with everything needed to tackle any challenge a competition would throw at them.
Lithium-Powered STEM Projects
The class’s latest robotics creations are underwater robots powered by two 100 amp hour, 12 volt Battle Born Batteries that run on LiFePO4 technology. According to Twichel, the students noticed a massive difference in performance in comparison to the lead-acid batteries they previously utilized. Twichel emphasized how lead-acid is a slower, outdated technology, and the green energy field is ever evolving. Past practices are quickly becoming obsolete and it’s exciting to have the students at the forefront of the positive change.
Twichel’s STEM students use various components to improve their robotics builds. The robots are powered by a three-motor design and are controlled using electronic speed controllers, which replace analog joysticks. The upgraded features of their robots give students more power and control, which is necessary for the competitions they compete in.
During timed mission competitions, the student’s robots must retrieve, deploy, and release items. There is an in-house, 850-gallon competition tank that allows the students to replicate the work of Robotic Operating Vehicles from industries such as law enforcement, marine biology, and offshore oil drilling.
Over the course of the school year, the students were able to build 33 machines for their robotics competitions and are planning to reuse all of their materials, excluding electrical tape and zip ties. Twichel told us that, “Overall, it’s been a good, productive year, and a lot of different projects and concepts were introduced.”
