The Last STEM Session

Sorry I didn't post this earlier...I was in London!
Anyway, for our last STEM Club session we made robots!!! We also had a BBQ, thanks to Mr White's insane cooking skills (ermmm).
For the robot, we soldered the wires to the motors and then to a control panel which also had the battery on. It was quite difficult to do as we had to separate the wires from each other and strip the coating off of them.
The BBQ was great, everyone had a good time. Thank you Mr White.
Also thank you Mr Chew and Mr Wayman for everything you've done this year...see you next year!!!
:)

ready.. steady...TOWER!

This week in STEM club we got into groups of 2 or 3 and were given the tasking of making a tower. So, suppose it sounds easy doesn't it...? Well... this is STEM club so think again!! Making a tower sounds pretty easy... but when you're given paper, card, masking tape, sellotape, plastic straws, paper art straws and five pounds it becomes harder! Before we could do any building we had to think about the structure design of our towers and once we'd decided on that, we were thinking materials and budgets! This was difficult as somethings were more expensive than others and some also worked better than others. Once everyone had purchased all their materials we began the process of building! (: Working had we all found out what worked and unfortunately what didn't. Some people thought small, some thought big, and some thought really big! Everyone was successful, some more than others. When judgement time came it was obvious who had won, Jordan's team! Their structure was above the height of the roof so we had to judge it on the stairs,where it could actually stand! So a congratulations is in order for Jordan and his team! Well done guys! I think everyone had a good time and we all enjoyed ourselves! (: x

THE FINAL DAY - HOW EGGCITING

The tension in the room is building up, as Mr Chew calls the last fifteen minutes, people rush round like its the end of the world, rushing, panicing because its almost time to finish.

People now starting to get eggcited as the time is almost there, some still panicing as they need to add the last few adjustments.

Miffy is now drawing for effect to score points for her group...
Laura is drawing with a marker on her egg to make it look fabulous and score more points for hers, miffys, graces and megans group (we'll have to see what happens, There is NO marks for looks !!!)...

Frankie is putting her building together, her target is to be finished in five minutes...

By Sammie Marriott

Finishing our Egg Mechanisms!

Today (Wednesday 4th March), was a chance to finish off the mechanisms that will move our eggs 1.75 metres across two tables.

Some groups had lots to do(OUR GROUP!), whilst others had done and were giving there buildings several test-runs and tweaking whatever needed to be tweaked.

Next week will be the week that we film our official challenge, so a lot of us are feeling the tension and as I look around me I see few happy relaxed faces compared to the many concentrated faces!

Keep reading, next week we will hopefully have some videos on of the results..!

By Miffy

Maths Teacher Conferance

HI,
Today (tuesday), Evie, Claire, Joe and I went to a meeting in Leeds to present to a group of Maths teachers from across Leeds about STEM activities and how they can be adapted into a classroom style project. They all seemed interested in what we had to say and questions and ideas of their own. We went in Mr Wayman's cluttered car which he had promised to clean out, but did not, and returned at about 3:15. We sorted out our PPP (power point presentation) during Thursdays STEM session and again this morning.
Mr Wayman reported that the teachers were all interested and impressed with all our STEM work so well done everyone!!
Thanks

Year 8 Faraday Challenge

Today 6 year 8 pupils from STEM club visited Pudsey Grange HIgh School to take part in the IET Faraday 2010 engineering challenge. We were set with the challenge of creating a prototype for home owners to use to move the water out of their houses when it flooded. Although it doesn't seem like it, this is a really serious issue. Just 25cm of water can knock you off your feet and carry you away as the current is so fast. We made a pump mechanism to carry the water out of your home and outside. Originally, we made our device using two acrylic tubes to maximise the flow of water cleared out of your house in a flood. This worked, until we came to test it. As we pumped the water from one tray into another, the valve pushing the water down and up snapped off the dowell! Aaargh!! Our device had to go to A&E to be repaired by 'Guy the technician' just minuites before our presentation in front of 6 pupils from the 5 other schools competing in the challenge.

We all took on different roles, including Grace being the video learning log manager. Click on the video below to find out more!

How did we do? We were really pleased to still come third after all our problems and even more proud to be awarded top marks for our teamwork. We will certainly look forward to supporting next year's challenge! :)

Eggs Factor Project

This week we are starting a project called Eggs Factor, Egg Chasm Crossing. In this project we have to transport an egg safetly across the chasm without breaking it. We are doing the KS3 one where you must transport the egg over 1.75m. You can't touch the egg at anytime and it must not touch the floor. You are not aloud to catapult the egg or fly the egg across the distance. We have looked at the Egg Chasm website to view other peoples. Click here to find out more details. Some of the designs involve gravity related things such as ramps for the egg to go down and carts for the egg to go in.