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Local 8th-Graders visit ERDC for Earth Day: Experience interactive displays and Eco-friendly robots
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8th-grade students from local schools visited ERDC in observance of Earth Day on Thursday.
The Engineer Research and Development Center invited the students to tell them about Earth Day and show them some of the things done at ERDC.
Students from Porter’s Chapel, Saint Aloysius and the Vicksburg Warren School District attended the Earth Day event. They were greeted at the headquarters and given an introduction that included a short video about ERDC by Director David Pettway.
They were split up into groups and taken outside to enjoy the weather and were shown some interactive displays.
One of the most popular displays was the Boston Dynamics robot called Spot.
Spot’s job includes scare the geese away at ERDC, but he is keen to not scare away the geese that are nesting. There’s also a Coyote that does the same job. He cost about 1/4 as much as Spot. Their real-world job is to scare birds away from locks and dams. The high volume of water at locks and dams, along with the moving equipment often causes harm to the birds. Running them off is the Eco-friendly thing to do.
In 1970, a US senator from Wisconsin arranged the first Earth Day as a national demonstration to draw attention to environmental concerns. Protests and gatherings occurred throughout the nation, and within the year, the US government established the Environmental Protection Agency. By 1990, Earth Day had grown into a global phenomenon, observed by over 140 countries worldwide. Nowadays, Earth Day is commemorated every year on Apr. 22.
Enjoy these photos of students, PhD’s and helpers, there are always helpers, making our future just a bit brighter:
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