Students Harness Wind Power
On a very hot Friday 30th September, fifty Carshalton High School for Girls' students put their design, technology, engineering and maths skills to the test in a one-day challenge set by the educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust. Working in small groups, the event was designed to enhance students’ aptitude for problem solving, creativity, design and engineering and was especially geared to complement to the National Curriculum.
The fifty Year 9 students worked on a project called the Wind Turbine Challenge, where they had to design and construct a wind turbine to produce the greatest amount of electricity. The turbine had to be free-standing and structurally robust to support heavy components and moving parts.
The project not only had time constraints but also budgetary and aesthetical requirements.
Education Officer for The Smallpeice Trust, Kevin O’Neill said, “It is wonderful to see just how much students get from taking part in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Day as they develop their lateral thinking and problem-solving skills. Throughout the course of the day students utilise their skills in Science, Techology, Engineering and Maths to tackle the task in hand. We hope these students will now be inspired to consider engineering when looking to choose future study options.”
The students were delighted to take part in this STEM Day. It has encouraged them to link the classroom elements of science, design and technology to what happens in engineering in the real world. By taking part in this STEM Day, we have found that many of our students have been inspired to push themselves harder in STEM subjects to achieve their future goals.
The STEM Day was run by the independent educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust as part of an ongoing programme of courses designed to help young people learn and develop skills in engineering, design, technology and manufacturing. For further information visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk.
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