TWIN FALLS -- She was working on the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson when she thought of a great idea for her students back home. Jo Dodds, who has taught science for 21 years at Vera C. O'Leary Junior High School, spent three weeks in September with a research crew that was studying thermal vents in the Pacific Ocean with remote operated vehicles (ROVs).

"I thought, 'What better way to reach out to students and help them understand (ROVs) than to have them build them?,' " Dodds said.

When she returned to Twin Falls, she applied for grants through the Idaho National Laboratory that would pay for materials, which students could use to build their own vehicles.

The underwater vehicles gave students a hands-on experience with concepts such as buoyancy, propulsion, electrical engineering and teamwork. The students were divided into groups of five or six. Later, the groups were separated into teams that handled individual tasks such as building frames, wiring motors and then putting it all together.

"There is a lot of problem-solving going on," Dodds said Tuesday as students tested weights on their vehicles. "Everything from the placement of the motors to the weight will affect how their ROVs work."

The ROVs had to be close to positive buoyancy -- meaning they would neither sink nor float -- and the three electric propellers had to move the vehicle left and right, as well as up and down.

In the classroom, the students focused on putting together the ROVs with plastic pipes, floats and an array of electrical items.

"This is kind of a fun deal," said Braden Box, who took a break from construction to answer questions. "It's a way we can learn what Mrs. Dodds learned on her research cruise."

The mini ROVs were tested in the YMCA swimming pool, where the students had to show their mastery of the controls by maneuvering a chopstick attached to the underwater vehicle into a small ring on the pool floor.

Some students mastered the controls faster than others, but all of them mastered back seat driving almost immediately.

While Beka Harris flicked the three switches that maneuvered the vehicle into position, her teammates yelled directions and suggestions.

In the end, her group declared her the master of the switches -- even after the vertical thruster broke.

"I'm just so pleased with these guys," Dodds said. "Just to think they built all the frames, motors and electrical is really something."

Dodds said she will seek funding for next year, so more students can try their hand at building ROVs.

She wants to start an after-school program in which students can build more creative vehicles and enter them in an ROV national championship.