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Two Rocks 4-H Club in Tiburon, Calif., started a program for elementary school youth to learn about underwater robots. Now, the club is seeking funds through th Pepsi Refresh project to use the underwater robots to protect endangered salmon.
4-H’ers in Tiburon, California are working to help save Pacific salmon through a unique underwater robotics project.
In December 2009, the Two Rock 4-H Club started a science project for youth in first through fifth grades to introduce them to engineering through the hands-on building of robots, and teaching them how the robots can interact with the environment. The project is led by 4-H volunteer David Bell, who is also the Marine Superintendent for San Francisco University’s Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies.
“It’s really neat to see the young kids have a passion for technology and mechanics and things that move,” said Bell. “Especially since half of the group is comprised of girls. I’m hoping as they get older, they will remember what they learned in 4-H and think about pursuing careers in science.”
Through the program, Two Rock 4-H’ers learn about robots that react to touch or sound, and build the robots so they can be programmed to follow a path or shape specified by a computer program. Their biggest project so far has been building remotely operated vehicles or ROVs, built through a donation by SeaPerch, a technology and science education resource provider that is managed by MIT Sea Grants.
Now, they are looking to expand their ROV program with funding through the Pepsi Refresh Project, an online contest where people can apply for grants to fund projects that have a positive community or society impact. The projects that receive funds are selected solely through popular vote.
In collaboration with Casa Grande High School students at the Tiburon Salmon Institute, Two Rock 4-H’ers want to use the grant to help protect and spawn endangered salmon in the San Francisco Bay area through the Institute’s salmon hatchery and nursery run by the Casa Grande students.
“The salmon used to be prolific, but now because of environmental degradation very few salmon make it back to the rivers each year,” said Bell. “There used to be thousands; now there only a few hundred.”
Two Rock 4-H’ers will to use the ROVs to monitor the fish in the Institute. The ROVs can safely be deployed with cameras and environmental sensors that will collect data about the health, behaviors and overall wellbeing of the salmon, and share the information globally through a Web site about salmon health.
The public can vote for Two Rock Underwater ROVs for Endangered Salmon through June 30 by visiting the Pepsi Refresh Project online at www.refresheverything.com/rovbuilder.