Willenhall E-ACT Academy www.willenhalle-actacademy.org.uk
Shire Oak STEM day
On Thursday 13th of June we had a trip to Shire Oak Academy. The trip was all about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Architecture Workshop The first activity was an architecture workshop. We had to build a triangular structure from sticks and rubber bands. This task was mostly about teamwork and communication. The only way to get it done was to work as a team. We had to connect the triangles (tetrahedrons) together to make a bigger structure. When all was done, the big triangle was dropped from a height; the force was equal on all sides causing only a little damage to the structure. Mathletics For the second activity we went on a web site called Mathletics; students could compete in maths sum races to earn tokens. These could be spent on accessories for your personal avatar to customise it. When we earned 1000 points we could earn a certificate! Dinosaur Mike For our third activity we were taught about dinosaurs by a palaeontologist called Dinosaur Mike, he taught us about a dinosaur called the Brontosaurus (thunder thighs). We were told to think of names for a new dinosaur that had been found in America that was similar to a Brontosaurus and he would forward them to his colleagues to see what names they would like best. The name put forward by us was Tripodactle. Managing Money Our fourth session was led by a lady from Lloyd’s TSB who taught us how to manage our money. We had to manage money for an Olympic contender and learned how hard it would be to live on £1000 a month. Aerodynamics For our last activity we had to design an aeroplane to a budget. To do this we had to get planes further than 5 metres, this meant they had to be aerodynamic. We also earned money by decoration, pilot payment and correct total working out. We enjoyed this activity as it was creative and really amusing; we had to work in a team with Shire Oak students which turned out better than expected.
KS3 STEM SUCCESS On Tuesday 2nd July 100 high achieving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) students were selected to show off their problem solving skills in a series of team challenges. There were 16 teams who were poised to do battle for the prizes up for grabs in the gym. The first challenge was called ‘Egg Tower’, each team had to design and manufacture the tallest tower to support the weight of an egg without collapsing, using only wooden dowels and elastic bands. There was a twist though, students had to ensure that did not over engineer the structures and used the least amount of materials possible. The winning team actually dismantled their first design as it wasn’t going to plan but managed to complete their structure before time was up.
Winning teams Egg tower Edward Thomas Charlotte Till James Timmins Megan Tonks Alex Tunnicliffe
Energy Ball Nicholas Honeghan Rhianne Howell Tayze Hutchins Kellese Hyde Sukhmuni Jagpal Chelsea Jones Elastic Racers James Thomas Kelsey Washbrook Morgan Woolley Cameron Yates Demi-Lee Yates
The second challenge was called ‘Energy Ball’, students were given a roll of card, sticky tape and lolly sticks. The idea was that each team had to build a track for a marble to roll down and land safely into a cup at the end. The winning team was the one who that kept the ball moving for the longest time. There were lots of different designs and the teams worked excellently together but the winning team managed a time of over 13 seconds. The final challenge of the day was call ‘Elastic Racers’, the idea of this task was to design and make an elastic powered car to travel the largest distance possible. This competition was really close and some students produced some weird and wonderful contraptions; the winning design managed to travel over 15 meters.
By Nathan Whitehouse, Kothanyl Holmes and Cameron Yates 8BH
Note
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