GTAC Fun

On October the 29th, Year 7s and 8s had an early start, to catch the bus to Melbourne for a Science excursion to the Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC). The purpose of the excursion was to learn about making bionic limbs that meet the unique needs of differently limbed individuals.

On the way to GTAC we used our road safety knowledge to educate other road users. When we arrived, we were split into two groups with 7A and 8A working together, and 7B and 8B working together. In our groups we went into separate rooms where we formed smaller table groups to design bionic arms. Each group was assigned a professional scientist to explain how to get inspiration from nature (also known as biomimicry), how human arms work and to assist us create our robot arms.

We were asked to choose who we were going to design an arm for. The choices were, Zahara who wanted to play drums, Baz who likes rock climbing or Tahlia who plays downball. Once we investigated the needs of our chosen client, we brainstormed ideas to make a bionic arm for them. During this stage, we applied what we had learnt about biomimicry to the designs, for example how suckers on octopus tentacles could inspire a suction design that would help Zahara hold a drumstick. Next we used a kit to make a robotic arm, which we could control with an iPad or myosensors. Myosensors are electrodes that are put on your skin to detect muscle movement, which is sent via wires, telling the robot to move. Some of the groups experimented with using the myosensors on different body parts, and found leg muscles gave the best results.

Highlights of the day included the canteen food, learning about biomimicry, experimenting with the robotic arm and working with real life scientists. Thank you to all the school staff who organised the excursion, Mr Tatchell, Mr Gawn, Tristan, Ash and Miss Blackburn. The staff at GTAC were a great help, as was Simon, the bus driver. We had a great day!

Article courtesy of Miss Blackburn, Lucy Hayward, Penny Vosper-Simmonds and Isabelle Angwin