Robotics Day for Year 8s

It marked the dawning of a new age for Rathfriland High as scores of robots touched down for a technology lesson with a difference.
Organised by Sentinus, the Robotics Day for Year 8s was a fun and educational exercise that combined the worlds of science, technology, engineering and mathematics
Before the event, keen volunteers from year 10 were trained to help mentor the year 8 pupils on their journey of discovery.  
Pupils thronged into the new gym complex for the first scenario of the day that featured a Nazi war-torn Germany and a race for the V2 rocket.  
Russian, British and America top brass were pushing hard not only for Berlin and the supreme commander ­ Adolf Hitler, but for their earth-shattering technology of ballistic missile capability.  
Several decades later NASA launched a mission to Mars. The pupils then watched a short film about the great conquest of reaching the red planet using technology.  
The pupils gazed with wonder as the Mars exploration robot scoured the sterilised surface for any sign of life. After the short film, the penny finally dropped as to what the pupils had to do. They looked around and saw robots, laptops and an obstacle course. After some ‘programming’ training, the eager boys and girls set about programming a little robot to navigate a course laid out in the centre of the room. Some robots and their programmers succeeded while others fell by the wayside.  Prizes were given to first, second and third for accuracy and distance.
Congratulating pupils on their enthusiastic participation was technology teacher, Mr Ross.
“The girls beat the boys by a mile which was good to see!” he said.
“Everyone had fun while learning at the same time, which is the main thing.”
“A big thank you to Sentinus and all who took part.”