On Tuesday 28th November, our class was met with a visionary lesson, courtesy of Affinity Water, that put our STEM skills to the test.
Following an assembly held by Affinity Water on how their water infrastructure functions and makes use of STEM, we were introduced to our lesson by an Affinity Water representative.
On each desk was a large box, which contained all the parts necessary to complete the activity, and a large map. The activity was for each group to construct their own 3D water network system on the large 2D map, using the equipment supplied. The aim was to ensure the water network allocated water to each customer stated on the map, but also complied to the rules set such as only crossing a railway or river via a bridge.
The equipment granted was as follows: six containers (customers), one water tower container, one height-adjustable platform, 40 sections of long pipe, 15 sections of short pipe, 30 2-way-in-line connectors, 10 2-way 90° connectors, 10 3-way T connectors and an additional A3 map for planning.
As soon as the explanation was over, we had to immediately get to work in order to finish before the end of the 20 minute time limit.
Without a doubt, there was a wave of frantic effort throughout the class as everybody hastily joined together pieces of pipe and connectors. The activity certainly required a lot of social skills, like teamwork, as well as STEM skills, like estimating how much water pressure to set. The restrictions made on not crossing various areas also proved to be frustrating for some.
It was not long before the time was up and our water networks were up for judgement. Two groups were chosen to be judged before the end of the lesson, and had water poured into their water network to test if it really worked. All the spectators had the duty of being judges, and it was fair to say there was some degree of competitive bias. Luckily both groups successfully transported water through their system in a short amount of time.
In summary, we gained experience in industrial-style practical science: a valuable lesson for those aspiring to work in the STEM career sector.
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/STEM-Affinity-Water-Challenge_Dec2017_2.jpg541734Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2017-12-08 10:51:512017-12-08 10:51:51Affinity Water Challenge
Mrs K. Coldwell, KS5 and G&T Leader, Maths, writes:
After a long postponement due to Professor Hawking’s ill health, four Stanborough students were able to attend the Inaugural Penrose Lecture on Quantum Black Holes, given by Stephen Hawking at the Mathematical Institute at Oxford University during the October half-term. Tawsif Chowdhury, Hannah Imafidon, Christopher Illes-Wilbourn and Joseph Lowton, all in Year 12, spent over two hours travelling to Oxford to hear the one-hour talk but all agreed that the journey was more than worth it for this once in a lifetime experience. The opportunity to hear renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking speak live on his own work with Roger Penrose and more recent work with others was the main draw of the event. Students also walked over Penrose tiles at the entrance to the Mathematical Institute, only to hear the introduction of Professor Hawking’s lecture given by his colleague, Sir Roger Penrose, as they sat in the Andrew Wiles building, directly behind Sir Andrew Wiles himself! So two of the most famous living British mathematicians were also part of the package! Such was the inspiration of this event and others like it, that Joseph Lowton made his own way to the public lecture which Andrew Wiles gave on the 28th November at the Science Museum in London.
Alan Del Ciampo, Archie Jennings and Ptolemy Carnell, write:
On Friday 10th November, a group of eight Year 9 engineering students embarked a minibus to travel to the Raytheon Quadcopter STEM Challenge Regional Final in Harlow.
They had built their drones from a list of parts and instructions. They had to work as a team and use their engineering knowledge to construct it.
However, they had to decorate their drones too. The theme was WW1 and both teams had to pick an animal that helped in The Great War.
Team A picked a carrier pigeon. They vacuum formed a pigeon head and used the 3D printer to attach legs.
Team B picked a dog. They got inspiration from Sergeant Stubby (the first dog to get the rank of Sergeant) The dog was made from wooden cut outs which were velcroed to the drone.
After countless hours spent after school, preparing and building the drone, they needed to practice flying. This was done at school on the field – a softer landing on grass to avoid breaking parts before the final. They still managed to break numerous rotors and rotor guards.
On the day, both Quadcopters were tested thoroughly before flying and one needed a motor change. Two courses were attempted and both were still working well, despite a couple of heavy landings. More repairs were needed and duct tape was called for when spare rotor guards and legs ran out.
Both teams managed to keep flying until the end of the competition and valuable flying tips were learnt. A most enjoyable day and many thanks to Raytheon for the opportunity to build and fly a Quadcopter.
Generationext
Miss R. Hooper, Curriculum Leader: Science, STEM Leader, writes:
On Friday 11th November, a group of A Level STEM students went to visit Roche to participate in their Generationext event. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company who research and produce medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases and diseases of the central nervous system. The aim of the visit was to get students to consider the applications of STEM A Levels in an industry that is at the forefront of research and development.
The day started with Dr Hannah Critchlow, a neuroscientist from Cambridge University ‘Demystifying the Human Brain’ by explaining how our 1.5kg mass of brain tissue produces our unique view of the world.
The students then had two hours of workshops where they saw and had first-hand experience of the STEM in real world contexts, from using virtual reality headsets to learning whether it is possible to communicate with aliens! Finally, the day was rounded-off with a presentation from Professor Shafi Ahmed, a cancer surgeon at The Royal London and St Bartholomew’s Hospitals. He explained the developments of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in training surgeons around the world to make safe surgery affordable and accessible for all.
‘The visit was very interesting as it showed the various aspects of the STEM industry and how they could be married together for a useful purpose.’ Isaac Cheng
‘I enjoyed listening to Dr. Hannah Critchlow and Professor Shafi Ahmed as they inspired me with their strong determination and contributions to science and medical research in order to help millions of people across the globe.’ Hamzah Hussain
‘The whole day made me more interested in how technology can be used in science and how, in the future, it will play a huge role in everyday jobs.’ Jessica Elsley
Miss C Burnham, Curriculum Leader: Design and Technology, writes:
Last Friday I went to MBDA in Stevenage with six Year 8 girls to take part in a new event, “Engineer for a Day”. The event was predominantly female-focused, with the idea of giving girls an opportunity to have a go at being an engineer for day and to work alongside the female MBDA engineers.
The girls were given lots of information about MBDA as a company; what they do, what it is like to work for them and the different routes into engineering as a career. During lunch time they were able to talk to female engineers, all at different stages in their careers, some who were on apprenticeships and others who had worked for many years in various different roles.
The main focus of the day was taking part in a real life engineering challenge where the girls had to design, build and test a structure which could transport tomatoes for the farmers in Nepal, where living on the mountainside and getting them to the market involves a long, dangerous walk down the mountain side and over a river, at the end of which the tomatoes may well be a bit squashed! The girls did a fantastic job at building and presenting their rope pulley system to transport the tomatoes, none of which were squashed when they got to the bottom!
The day was excellent! It was great for the girls to have the freedom to make their own design decisions and build their own design, whilst having the great support from MBDA engineers, who worked with them for the whole day.
There was no competitive element to the day but well done to Libby Gilbank, Zainab Umarah, Chloe Emerick, Holly Clayton, Chloe Kunjasic and Emma Hudson for being awarded a CREST Discovery award and being fantastic engineers!
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/MBDA_2_Nov2017_2.jpg300362Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2017-11-10 11:23:522017-11-10 11:25:46Engineer for a Day
Miss R. Hooper, Curriculum Leader: Science writes;
On Tuesday 3rd October, Stanborough School hosted its first STEM Family Challenge. Family and friends of Year 8 and Year 9 students joined us for an evening of fun filled, hands-on, STEM based activities where they had the opportunity to compete with other families. It was heart-warming to see so many families working together and having fun along the way.
Laura Wells, 8K writes:
The first part of the evening was all about problem solving and thinking ways around a question. Then we all had a go, with our families and friends, to create a crane.
We used science, technology, engineering and mathematics to build this and had to think about various variables that would affect the overall shape and strength of the crane. We also had to use teamwork and this was a huge factor in the challenge.
“It was a fun experience to make the crane using lots of equipment. It was something different. I can’t wait to try out my new skills!” Alex Selous (8H)
“I’d never done anything like this before and it really took my interest. I hope to be part of more events like this in the future!” Laura Wells (8K)
“It was interesting to find out about how engineering changes our lives.” Jack Hadley (8H)
A joint team of the families of Josh Imafidon (8O) and Ellis Hayes (8B) won the competition for best/most imaginative crane. They were very excited and shocked to be given the prize! Josh Imafidon said “It was fun to challenge the puzzle solving part of the brain we don’t normally use.”
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/STEM-Family-Challenge_Oct2017_1w.jpg375500Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2017-10-13 11:43:442017-10-13 11:43:44STEM Family Challenge
Miss R. Hooper, Curriculum Leader: Science, STEM Leader, writes:
On Tuesday 26th September, almost 90 of our Year 9’s had the privilege of participating in the RAF 100 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) day. It was a fun-filled day of hands on, STEM based activities linked to situations engineers of the RAF may be required to complete.
The day kick started with the ‘Chain Home’ activity where the teams were to construct a ‘radar tower’ with only paper straws and limited masking tape that was to hold as much mass as possible. Teams had to utilise their maths and science knowledge to consider the strength of a variety of shapes and had to cooperate to make the most of their limited time.
The next activity required the application of the students’ physics knowledge as they had to design, build and test an ‘aircraft’ that was powered using elastic potential energy. Thankfully, our Year 9’s are currently learning about energy transfers in science and it was great to see them discussing the impact of mass, friction and the requirements of aerodynamics to get their aircraft moving. There were many excellent designs and most worked!
After a presentation about the huge range of engineering roles in the RAF and the importance of studying STEM subjects at GCSE and beyond, students started their final task. This required programming a small robot which had to successfully navigate a ‘disaster zone’ course to reach survivors. This task required excellent team work, accuracy, planning and plenty of persistence for students to work out how to navigate the robot through the course.
The students worked exceptionally well and did themselves proud in what they produced. This meant that it was not easy to decide the overall winning group. There was however one team that demonstrated real persistence, giving them the edge over the others.
The day was a huge success and the students walked away with not only being able to see the applications of STEM subjects in real world contexts but we hope they are inspired to become the engineers of the future.
“The day has taught me about careers you can have in engineering and the importance of doing the best we can in our GCSE’s.” Charlotte Preston 9K
“I liked that we got to work well as a team and I enjoyed doing multiple tasks.” Joshua Young 9K
“I enjoyed the hands on work, especially programming the robot.” Alex Douglas 9A
https://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RAF-100-STEM-Day-2017_Rover.jpg816612Clare Pomfreyhttps://stanborough.herts.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/newlogo.pngClare Pomfrey2017-10-05 13:07:192017-10-05 13:07:19RAF 100 STEM Day
Miss C Burnham, Curriculum Leader: Design and Technology, writes:
Last Friday our 2017 Quadcopter team (comprising of Year 9 GCSE engineering students, Matthew, Hugo, Izzy, Bryony and Elise) headed off for the launch of the competition. The Quadcopter challenge is a chance for students to participate in a hands-on STEM based engineering challenge to build their own unique, fully operational, unmanned aerial vehicle, known as the Quadcopter. Then, in student teams, they will have to personalise the flight characteristics and customise various components such as the frame design, undercarriage and canopy. Students will get together in their team each week after school and work to build and customise the Quadcopter, ready to fly it around an obstacle course, competing against other teams and schools.
“The Raytheon launch day was an incredible experience. The presentation at the start of the day was very interesting and it showed me that there are a lot more jobs in engineering than I had originally thought. After the presentations, we were then given our Quadcopter kits and we started building. The building of a Quadcopter from scratch was complicated but, by assigning roles for each team member, we managed to do it more efficiently.
Overall the whole day was great fun! It was nice to have the freedom to build what we wanted and make the design decisions ourselves, whilst having the great support from engineers and Raytheon STEM ambassadors.
Now back at school, we need to continue working and developing as a team to start designing the shell for the Quadcopter, which will be a challenge because of all the wiring and the weight. Something which I hope we can work on together as a budding team of engineers.” Matthew Gifford, 9 Hatfield, GCSE engineering student
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