2M Popcorn Carts

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

In Robotics, 2M designed and made a ‘Popcorn Cart’ with a slowly spinning sign, that was turned by a handle. The children used a small gear (driver gear) turning a larger crown gear (follower or passenger gear) to make the sign spin slowly, allowing the words on the sign to be easily read. The cart had to be mobile, stable, have a suitable compartment for the popcorn and at least one seat for the driver. Here are some wonderful examples of the children’s work.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Robocup On Stage State Competition 2019

Posted on August 24, 2019 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

On Monday 19th August three teams from Gordon East Public School, Denzel, Pandas and MCNTS, competed in the Robocup On Stage State Competition. I was so very proud of what they achieved and the children had lots of fun.

Team Denzel

Team Pandas

Team MCNTS

This is what the competition was all about.

RoboCup Junior OnStage Performance

RoboCup Junior OnStage Performance is a stunning integration of Science, Technology and the Arts. Participants challenge themselves to design, build and program their robots to dance to music. This performance may be in the form of a dance in time with the beat of the music, story-telling or even a theatrical presentation.

Competitors are encouraged to decorate their entries and motorise robot limb movements, to give their robots real personality and the performance real appeal. RoboCup Junior OnStage Performance can be approached in a number of ways with creative new ideas appearing every year. Some previous ideas have been robots dancing together in tightly choreographed teams, students interacting with their robots, students creating their own music to dance to and students telling a story while the robots act it out. The OnStage Performance Challenge is a real team effort with each student playing their role to design, program, create and perform.

The teams worked hard on their programs and robot designs.

Our students waiting to perform.

Have a look at the videos of their On Stage Performances.

The ‘Magic Show’ by Hamilton South Primary School was exceptional. The girls apparently spent 15 weekends at home with two fathers crafting their excellent work. They had 9 robots, custom made props and much more. Their excellence did in no way detract from the fantastic job that our GEPS teams did as our students completed their projects at school and the entries were entirely their own work.

It was, however, very exciting to watch the Magic Show as it was an excellent example of what can be achieved with a huge amount of effort and help. It has certainly given us something to work towards next year.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Years 5 and 6 make scissor arms

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Years 5 and 6 started the term making scissor arms and the challenge was to make the longest one within a period of time.

The students took it very seriously and it was great to see such engagement.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Battle Bots 2018

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

December 2018 was the time for the annual Battle Bot Challenge. Needless to say the children were very excited all trying to build and program the ultimate robot.

The challenge was to design and build a robot with a downward facing light sensor, a movable arm and some defensive stucture/s. The robots had to start facing away from each other, turn 180 degrees and use the light sensor to stay within the black line. The winner pushed the other robot over or out of the ring.

The video is taken from above so it’s orientation really is correct.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Dr E’s November ‘WeDo Challenge’.

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Dr E’s WeDo Challenges are a great learning experience where pupils compete with other students from around the world. This allows our children to be part of the Global STEM community.

Each month Dr E issues a challenge. In November the theme was ‘Crafty WeDo’ and the students had to design, build, program and video a presentation about their robots, as they fulfiled the design brief. The classes only had 4 one and a quarter hour lessons to complete the tasks. The time was quite limited and the students had to plan and manage this.

Please go to the Website to see some of the best videos. The winning presentation was the ‘Fan favourite’ and two of our GEPS girls received this honour.

Dr E’s Challenges ‘Crafty We Do’

The winners received an award and certificate.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Robocup 2018

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

On Tuesday 21st August, three fabulous teams from Gordon East entered Robocup ‘On Stage’ competition in the ‘Novice Division’.

Our teams were called ‘Under the Sea’, ‘Hokey Pokey’ and ‘Seaweed Dragons’ . The Dragons performed to the song,’ My Heart will Go On’ from Titanic.

Here are our great teams. Well done to all.

(Sorry for the poor photography but my phone was lost and the lense on my normal camera was broken. My only option was an old camera and I was very unhappy with the quality of the photos and videos)

We were all inspired by the performances from the ‘Expert Category’. Megatron and the muppets were especially good.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Carousels in Action

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Years 4 and 3 composite really enjoyed making their carousels and carrying out the activities included in this unit of work.

Below are some pictures of the finished products and a video showing the rides in action.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

Roboeducator in Action

Posted on April 8, 2018 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

The year 6 mentors have been helping the Year 5 students as they work through Robot Educator.

Here are some of the students in action.

Thanks for calling by Mrs Garlick

Years 4/3 make a launcher and create a game

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

4/3L and 4/3A have been working hard making a launcher that propels an object onto a target. The students programmed this using Wedo coding and Scratch.

Years 5 and 6 were very impressed when they saw what the younger classes had created.

Thanks for calling by

Mrs Garlick

K9 Bots compete in the Sydney Regional #1 First Lego League Competition

Posted on November 6, 2016 by Jennifer Garlick

Dear Bloggers,

Yesterday GEP’s team, the ‘K9 Bots, ‘ competed in the Sydney Regional #1 First Lego League Competition. The team did a fantastic job and were awarded the ‘Team Work’ Trophy. Well done champs.

This year’s First Lego League season is ‘Animal Allies’ and involves three sections:

Core Values and Gracious Professionalism
Research project and Presentation
Robot games.

Core Values and Gracious Professionalism

This is what FIRSTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS………….The FLL Core Values are the cornerstones of the FLL program. They are among the fundamental elements that distinguish FLL from other programs of its kind. By embracing the Core Values, participants learn that friendly competition and mutual gain are not separate goals, and that helping one another is the foundation of teamwork. We are a team. We do the work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors. We know our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers; we learn together. We honour the spirit of friendly competition. What we discover is more important than what we win. We share our experiences with others. We display Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® in everything we do.

GP1 – Gracious Professionalism® – You are “Gracious Professionals.”
●● You compete hard against PROBLEMS, while treating PEOPLE with respect and kindness – people from your own team,
as well as other teams, and other countries.
●● Coaches and parents lead by example.
●● You build onto other people’s ideas instead of resisting or defeating them.

Here is the team carrying out their team work activity.

Robot Games

The robot games have many missions which vary in difficulty and number of points awarded. There are clearly defined rules and penalties. It is not possible to achieve all challenges so the students plan strategies for the missions they will accomplish. Arms and attachments must be designed to carry out the challenges and programs written. This is open ended problem solving at its best.

Under pinning this the Robot Games are developed and produced so students can:
• have fun with science and technology, gaining confidence, knowledge, and skill at the same time.
• practice taking risks and innovating in a team setting.

This is what our robot looked like

Here are some pictures of our team in action

At the Robot design judging the students explained their strategies, programming and robotic design to the judges.

Presentation and Research Project

This is what the students were asked to do:

Identify a Problem To begin your Animal Allies project, choose an interaction between man and animal and identify a problem with this.

Research and find out about the current solutions. Why aren’t the current solutions working? Why does this problem still exist?

Design an Innovative Solution to your problem. A solution that adds value to society by improving something that already exists in a new way or inventing something totally new.

Once you design your solution, share it!

Present Your Solution at a Tournament Finally, prepare a presentation to share your work with the judges at a tournament. Your presentation can include posters, slideshows, models, multimedia clips, props, costumes, and more. Be creative, but also make sure you cover all the essential information.

The K9 Bots dealt with the issue that domestic dogs are not getting enough exercise.