A team of Bluestone School pupils have placed second in the New Zealand EPro8 STEM-based learning Champion of Champions competition in Christchurch.
Last Tuesday, at Holmes Solutions, they went up against 12 of the best schools in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Bluestone principal Darren Smith said it was the school’s best ever finish.
‘‘This shows the excellence we have built up in STEM-based learning at Bluestone School in the past couple of years.’’
The team was comprised of pupils Nakeisha Austin, who was captain, Logan Dunn, Haibin Chen and Jacob Wederell.
Nakeisha said they started doing EPro8 at the start of last term.
‘‘We did a pod competition for a start, the purpose of the competition was to see who would go through to the next stage to represent the school.’’
Two teams from Bluestone were selected to then compete against other schools in Timaru.
They placed first and second in that competition and then went on to place first in the semifinal competition in Ashburton, where they competed against Mid Canterbury schools.
The team were then on to the final. Unfortunately, one of the members fell sick on the day of the final, which led to ‘‘super sub’’ Haibin stepping in.
The competition centres around the Epro8 kit — pupils are given a theme and must use the contents of the kit to construct intricate contraptions that are then judged on a specific criteria.
Logan said the kit featured items like lengths of aluminium, wheels, pulleys, joiners, nuts and bolts and some electronic parts.
Bluestone teacher Monica Genet said pupils all had to use the same equipment, using sensors they programmed.
‘‘There’s always size restrictions and key features that have to be just right to get points.
‘‘Then you have to break it all down and build something new — or if you’re smart, re-use what you’ve already got.’’
In the semifinals, the theme was retro games and the team built a functioning Pac-Man that could pop things, as well as a moving space invader, she said.
The theme for the final was centred around food and farming.
Logan said the team built a conveyor belt that washed the food then counted it, and they also constructed a juice shaker.
Mrs Genet said the competition was ‘‘non-stop’’.
‘‘They compete for three hours with no breaks, it’s all just problem-solving and building.
‘‘Teamwork is so important because by the time they are two hours in, someone is getting grumpy. Keeping that calm under pressure is really hard.’’
Logan said the kit itself was actually quite simple to use.
‘‘The hardest part is figuring out what you actually need to build from what it tells you to do.’’
The team said when participants had finished their builds, they pressed a buzzer and the judge would come over and score them based on the criteria and if they had completed it to the correct standard; the judge would then scan a barcode and they would get the points.
Nakeisha said it was her first year competing, whereas Jacob and Haibin had both competed once before and Logan was a four-year veteran.
Mrs Genet said the STEM learning system was so important.
‘‘It’s the practical application of what you’re learning. Sometimes stuff on the page doesn’t make sense until you actually test it out.’’
The school runs EPro8 from years 5-8.
‘‘I’m new to the school this year and one of the things that convinced me to come was how well resourced it was for the EPro8, because it’s expensive.’’
Each kit costs about $800 and there is a further cost for the electronics.
‘‘Bluestone has enough kits for a whole class to be able to get hands-on, which is a real luxury.’’
The team are hoping secondary schools will get on board with the EPro8 competition, as it is now being offered to them.
