Chisholm Street Primary School students build moving robots

More than twenty five students from Chisholm Street Primary School presented their robotic creations at the school assembly held on Wednesday 27 June.  

The robotics program run by GOTAFE involves primary school aged children building their own robots. GOTAFE teacher, Justin McMahon has been involved in the program since its inception in 2010 and said the highlight is seeing how much enjoyment the students have creating these robots.

“GOTAFE distributes all the parts and a set of instructions to the students and once they have built the robots on their own they come to GOTAFE for two sessions over two days for programming, we give them a hand to get the robots moving,” said Justin.

“We add wheels and motors and the robots move and do circles and dance, the students get such a thrill out of seeing something they have created really come to life.

“The assembly was a great opportunity for the students to show off their robot projects and demonstrate to teachers, parents and school mates what they have created.

“The students have been so enthusiastic, a group of girls even staged a mock royal wedding for their robots and filmed it for their classmates.

“The program provides a great learning environment, they have so much fun and they don’t even realise they are learning because they are so focussed on putting the robots together and making them move.

“The teachers at the primary schools have been really supportive too, some of the schools have even dedicated whole school terms to robots, with students incorporated robots into creative artworks and wrote about the stages of creating the robot.

“A number of teachers have also set research projects on robots and the students were required to investigate where to find them and what they are used for. This is really important because it helps students understand that robots are part of our everyday life”. 

In 2012, Chisholm Street Primary School is the second school to be involved in GOTAFE’s robotics program with Milawa and St Patricks Primary Schools scheduled to participate in the program in third and fourth terms.

The GOTAFE robotics program is now in its third year, with the program taking place at a primary school for one term. If your school is interested in being involved please contact Justin McMahon via the GOTAFE Customer Service Centre on 1300 GOTAFE (1300 468 233).

Article Published 28 Jun 2012