Samohi’s push into Project Based Learning brought the school another accolade this month, courtesy of an innovation in the sweet science of Peanut Candy Tossing.
The Samohi Scalawags team representing Project Lead The Way took home the top prize in the 25th Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, beating out 20 other teams, including two other Samohi squads. This was the seventh NASA/JPL competition for the school, and the first challenge championship.
The nature of the contest was to build an automated machine that would launch 50 Peanut M&Ms in 60 seconds, sending the candies over a barrier and into a triangular Plexiglas container. The scoring was determined similar to Skeeball, with different scores corresponding to spots in the container.
To take the prize, the Scalawags went “tried and true” with a modified crossbow format to sling the candies. At the regional competition at Augustus Hawkins High School, trigger issues delayed the squad and only 35 of the 50 candies were launched. However, the score was still successful enough to qualify.
Project Lead The Way teacher Breanna Snyder said the team tinkered with the design for the finals, but had to improvise when temperatures began to rise in the Orange County locale. The day-of adjustments, as well as the pre-finals work, both paid off with the title.
“You don’t want to make any last-minute changes, but they were able to, and they were able to do it successfully,” Snyder said. “So I think just (with) the last-minute testing and last-minute adjustments, they were able to perform under pressure.”
Former Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer was one of the proud parents watching on, cheering his son Steele as part of the Scalawags.
“(It’s) good to see all these kids from different backgrounds … taking these different approaches, learning how to build things through trial and error, (target) the different angles at which to launch,” Winterer said.
Project Lead the Way is a four-year program part of the Samohi PBL push, something that Winterer approves of for physics and engineering because there is “nothing like that practical experience in the field.” The engineering students are also unique due to taking on semester-long projects, like the NASA competition and next semester’s Capstone projects.
Both of those projects are being worked on in the Samohi Exploration Building for the first time, with the new section of campus making a “huge difference” for Snyder and her class.
“When you have the right tools to do something, it’s always beneficial (in) any subject, so we’re just really thankful that we have not only the space that’s appropriate, but all of the machinery and the equipment that (comes) along with it,” Snyder added.
For more information on Project Lead The Way or to donate to the endeavor, visitpltw.org.
