Silver Lake Intermediate 7th and 8th grade students in Mr. Michael Bretl's classes participated in a fluid power competition that took place at WCTC on March 15.
In February, the students took part in a workshop day where teams learned about the basics of fluid power – what it is, how it works, and how it is used in everyday life. Teams built basic pneumatic kits. They started by working on machines that would rotate and lift objects. The workshop day wrapped up by giving the students the Action Challenge problem – what they are actually tasked with doing at the challenge competition. Teams were asked to build a machine that can move an object from one location to another. They were then given all of the tools and a kit of supplies that they took back to school and over the next five weeks, they developed a plan and started building their machine.
Students spent their free in-school time working on creating a design portfolio, as well as building and testing their creations. When they returned for the challenge day the only thing they could bring with them was their design portfolio.
On March 14th, the teams were given the same tools and an identical kit of supplies to recreate the machine they designed at school. Teams were judged on their portfolio, design, teamwork, and total machine points. As the teams worked during the allotted time, challenge judges observed the teams and interviewed students, asking them about how they came up with their design and how they work together as a team. When the time was up, the teams all gathered together and put their machines to the test. The judges kept score as teams used their machines, seeing how many objects they could move in the allowed time. Each team was given two chances to compete.
Both Silver Lake Intermediate teams did an outstanding job and the 8th grade team ended up being the overall champions of this event. Nice job Alex, Anderson, Jeremy, Logan, Mason, Michael, and Ruby.
Above: Silver Lake Intermediate Fluid Power Team