Students show off engineering skills

Keystone Middle School, 501 Opportunity Way in LaGrange, dedicated the entire day May 9 to giving students the chance to make their own robotic arm.

The day, dubbed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Day, featured student groups competing for who could make the best robotic arm.

“The goal is to make a robotic arm that has the ability to pick up a cup,” said Jacki Daymut, the STEM teacher at Keystone Middle. “The arm must also be able to add items and hold the items in the cup.”

Daymut said the students were judged in two rounds.

“We will have a group that advances from each class room and then the remaining groups will be judged by local engineers who have volunteered to be here today,” Daymut said. “The arms will be judged based on how well they are able to hold the cups and the materials. We will also measure how long the arms can do this.”

Daymut said the students also would be judged on how cost effective their inventions are.

“All the students have a set amount of Wildcat Bucks at their disposal,” she said. “We have materials that have been allotted to them, but they can choose to use some of their money to buy more materials.

“The goal, however, is to spend the least amount of money and show you can make the most durable product at the most affordable price possible.”

Daymut said the final round is judged differently.

“I had the guidelines of weight, time and money spent for each class room, but I wanted to put it more in the hands of the professional engineers for the last

round,” she said. “They are engineers and they know more about what it takes in today’s engineering world.

“I didn’t want to restrict them in any way when they are deciding who wins. Giving them as much leeway as possible will determine the winner of the contest.”

Daymut said first through third place will receive medals for their achievements.

“First place will be getting a tinker crate to continue building their robot,” she said. “The second and third place winners will be getting a $10 gift card to Walmart.

“It is a little incentive to give a little more motivation, but these kids really don’t need it. They work hard and are really passionate about this, which makes it exciting for me.”

ZACH SRNIS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Paul Horten, 13, a Keystone sixth-grader, plans his group’s next move toward creating a viable robotic arm.

ZACH SRNIS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Hannah Holcepl, 12, a Keystone sixth-grader, draws up the schematics for her group’s Popsicle stick design.