Ta Gaelscoil Thomáis Dáibhís ag glacadh páirt i gComórtas Róbó Vex IQ i mBirmingham ar an gCéadaoin an 16ú lá de mhí na Márta. After two days of intense competition at this year’s National VEX IQ Finals in C.I.T on Friday 29th January, Gaelscoil Thomáis Dáibhís was absolutely thrilled to be offered a place to compete in the U.K National Finals in Birmingham’s NEC yesterday, Wednesday, 16th March.

Is comórtas é seo ar nós Eolaí Óg BT, ach go bhfuil gá le róbó a dhearadh agus a thógáil, maraon le tionscnamh STEM ( Eolaíocht/Teicneolaíocht/ Innealltóireacht/ Matamaitic)a léiriú chomh maith. Chuir daltaí Rang 5 agus múinteoir Máire tús leis an obair seo i lár Dheireadh Fómhair. Ag obair i ngrúpaí, léirigh na daltaí raon leathan scileanna san innealtóireacht, cláir ríomhairí a scríobh, réiteach fadhbanna agus san eolaíocht í féinig.

Akin to the Young Scientist Competition, but with the added task of designing and building a working robot as well as researching and presenting a STEM project to a panel of judges, Rang 5 and muinteoir Máire began their preparations in mid-October. Working in small groups, the pupils demonstrated an array of skills that incorporated engineering, computer programming, problem solving and science. The highlight for most of the children was the building and programming of the robots, Robbí and Wally.

The S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) focus this year was on the area of science and children collaborated on a project exploring added sugar consumed daily by adults and children. The S.T.E.M. team presented to and were questioned by a panel of judges, who were extremely impressed. In a very informative, educational presentation, Miriam O’Callaghan and Teresa Mannion, aka. Éabha and Eimear, interviewed Mrs Brown and her grandchildren about her shopping habits and the sugar content in our weekly groceries, drinks and sweets. This topic was chosen by the class as it sat very comfortably with the whole school emphasis on healthy eating during the month of January.

Over the two days of competition in CIT, the robotics team displayed their skills, firstly driving the robot with the use of a controller and subsequently in autonomous mode. Robbie Robó performed excellently and was always competing for the top positions in all tasks set by the competition organisers. Friday was the ultimate day for those competing and our STEM research team were again questioned on the content of their project – The Quantity of Sugar present in daily cereals and groceries. Having expertly answered all the scientific questions posed and having outlined how the class worked scientifically throughout the project, the final task was to work collaboratively with another school in completing a set of instructions using both schools’ robots. Gaelscoil Thomáis Dáibhís was paired with Scoil Bhríde achieving 2nd place in this section when all scores were collated by computer.

Gaelscoil Thomáis Dáibhís, and Rang 5 pupils in particular, were honoured to receive the overall award for their STEM Project. It was a fantastic experience for the pupils and one that was truly educational as the entire class were involved in an engaging, exciting and enjoyable project that will we hope inspire our young scientists and engineers of the future. To one and all involved in the project, déanaimid comhghairdeas agus táimid cinnte go bhfuil daltaí na Gaelscoile ag tnúth leis an dturas chuig Birmingham.