As part of a spring study of water life, students in the seventh and eighth grades at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Edgecomb built remote-controlled submersibles, through the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s Seaperch program (www.seaperch.org). Groups of students collaborated to build the kits, including submersible framing, motors, and the remote control itself. The submersibles, around a foot square, are attached to a 50-foot tether cable that allows students to control the diving and steering of the submersibles while underwater.  

After three weeks of constructing, cutting, soldering, waterproofing of motors, and conducting dry-dock testing of the subs, the students and their teacher, Glenn Powers, traveled to Wiscasset Community Center’s pool to put them through their first underwater run.   

They worked perfectly. Students used the submersibles to carry out a series of tasks, including maneuvering through underwater hoops, grabbing a ring from a hook and delivering it to a net, and basic steering strategies. Students also attached an underwater camera to the submersibles to get a "fish-eye" view of their journey beneath the water.