Careers Event – HS2 STEM Event

Selected Year 8 students were chosen to take part in a STEM event run by Andy Bruno from the Smallpeice Trust on behalf of HS2. We were incredibly lucky to also have the support of STEM Ambassador Andrew Clayton from Morgan Sindall.

Students began the day learning about HS2 and careers involved before embarking on their first challenge, ‘build the tallest tower using only paper that will hold a mass on the top’. This is particularly difficult to do without glue or tape but the students worked together as teams to create a variety of towers, some of which held the mass perfectly.

The next challenge was for students to design their own train station of the future. Each person had a different role within the group and they had to combine their ideas and skills to produce their final piece. The students speaking and listening skills were then put to the test as they had to present their ideas to other teams.

The final challenge for the day was to build a tunnel to withstand the largest weight possible whilst being 40cm long and large enough to fit a train through (measurements were given). Students worked out the strongest shape was a triangle and worked to incorporate this into their designs. Andy Bruno was keen to offer lots of advice to students about the designs but we decided to let our students find their own way and the designs that were produced were impressive considering the minimal support. Time for testing came and students had to place weights upon their groups design. The winning team had the lightest design that held the most weight.

Throughout the day the support offered by Andy Bruno and Andrew Clayton was amazing. The students (and staff!) had a great day, a big thank you to both.