Students who attend the school’s STEM Club went head to head this week as they were tested on the marble run challenge they had been working on for the last five weeks.
Students, who worked in teams of two, had been tasked with creating a maze-like structure designed to give a marble its slowest descent. Pupils had used all kinds of materials including plastic pots, cardboard boxes and Sellotape to perfect their design. Once their structures were ready the teams had 10 attempts to achieve the slowest time.
Monique and Jessica were one of the teams to compete. Monique said: “We started with an idea of the structure we would need but as the weeks have gone on we have changed it as we’ve noticed ways to improve. We are happy with our final design.”
Another of the teams was made up of Benjamin and Ollie. Ollie said: “We watched a lot of videos to get ideas for our structure. I think the thing we have enjoyed about this challenge is that it is different from anything else we have done. There are also a variety of ways to attempt the challenge so there isn’t a set right answer.”
Physics Teacher Mr Long runs Carr Hill's STEM Club. He said: “I’ve been impressed with the variety of structures that have been created and how each team has approached the challenge differently. I think the lesson we are learning here though is that sometimes the simplest approach is the most effective.”
Of the four teams Team Alpha, Team Beta, Team Gamma and Team Delta, Team Beta (Sam and Muhammed) won, by getting the best (slowest) time of 14.1 seconds. But the best team average was Team Gamma (Max and Josh). Well done to all teams.
STEM 2018
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