Thirty-one eager students from the Crookwell High School will be taking on mind blowing construction challenges at the 2017 Southern Tablelands Science & Engineering Challenge.
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The challenge will be hosted at the Veolia Recreation Centre in Goulburn tomorrow, July 28.
The school will compete against other secondary schools in the Southern Tablelands such as Trinity Catholic College, Mulwaree, Goulburn, Yass and Braidwood High Schools.
Rotary Australia and The University of Newcastle are the major sponsors of the day and it is always a great day.
Held in regional venues right around Australia, schools compete in eight fun activities that are based on the principles of science and engineering.
These activities include elements of design and creation, logic puzzles and teamwork.
The students work collaboratively in their teams to solve some science and engineering problems.
Teams are given a variety of materials to build with including 20 pop sticks, 10m tape and 2 strips of wood veneer.
- Stephanie Croker
Some of the activities on the day include:
- Mission to Mars (building a vehicle suitable for terrain on Mars),
- Helter Skelter (tower building to withstand earthquakes);
- ElectriCITY (connecting electricity to a whole city);
- Grasping at Straws (building a bionic hand out of straws),
- Catapult and Bridge Building
The culmination of the day is the testing of the bridges designed and built by the teams from the various schools.
Teams are given a variety of materials to build with including; 20 pop sticks, 10m tape and two strips of wood veneer.
The bridge that survives the heaviest weight will be crowned the winner of that event and receive maximum points.
Points are tallied at each of the challenges and the team with the highest points across the board wins a spot to compete in the State S&E Challenge in Newcastle.
Crookwell High School has introduced STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) into the timetable of the Year 8 students where they have built roller coasters, wind turbines and used their problem solving skills investigating other engineering projects.
Job vacancies in STEM have increased by seventeen percent in the past year and the S&E Challenge was introduced to attract students to think about careers in STEM.
Taking the challenge is an excellent opportunity to inspire and change the lives of students and we wish the High School wishes the team all the best on the day.
