That was the problem posed to Year 8 students from the Anthony Gell School in Derbyshire recently as the school embarked upon its first large scale STEM enrichment project. Staff from the Science, Design & Technology and Maths departments worked with DEBP’s STEM Team to produce an exhilarating day which centred on the current World Land Speed Record attempt.
The Bloodhound SSC project aims to develop a car which will travel at over 1000mph, a challenge which sets a significant physical and engineering challenge for the whole team.
The Anthony Gell students were immersed into the real world of this extraordinary challenge, allowing them to understand the phenomenal maths behind the project, together with the effects of chemical combustion process, the stresses and forces exerted on the car and the driver’s body and the psychological impact.
All the students then embarked on a programme of design, prototyping, testing and marketing for their record attempts which used a combination of solar cars and rocket cars.
Sara Barnes, one of the schools Design and Technology teachers said: “The DEBP’s STEM Team support is very much appreciated by us all and I know that a lot of pupils got a lot out of yesterday. It would be great to make this an annual event and really promote all the STEM subjects within schools, especially when we can link them so successfully”.
For more information:
www.bloodhoundssc.com
www.debp.co.uk