High fliers present their ideas for a water-powered craft at UK STEM finals

Midweek Herald: Colyton Grammar School STEM teamColyton Grammar School STEM team (Image: Archant)

Young scientists from Colyton Grammar School marked British Science Week by presenting new ideas for an energy efficient water-powered rocket.

Two teams of students competed against schools from around the UK in BP’s Ultimate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) Challenge final at the Science Museum, in London, presenting their ideas to a panel of expert judges.

The students were invited to use their creativity to identify and design an efficient solution to one of three real-world challenges: Rescue Rockets, Future Flight or Auto Arms.

The youngsters worked in groups of two to four at a STEM club, in class or as an independent project, before submitting their project via PowerPoint or YouTube.

STEM ambassadors were available to guide and inspire students as they took on the challenge.

The competition’s ultimate winner was Bredon Hill Academy in Evesham, Worcestershire.

Philip Lynch, physics teacher at Colyton Grammar School, said:

“These students were friends to begin with, but they have learnt to share responsibilities for recording, storing and analysing their data, producing presentations and manager their time. It’s great to see their team working skills develop even further.”

One member of Colyton’s finalist teams said: “We love technology and being practical, so we all enjoyed developing practical skills that we hope to apply to our future projects. The opportunity to create a final design really stretched our imaginations.”

Ian Duffy, community development manager for BP in the UK said: “BP has been committed to STEM education for over 45 years and in the past five years we’ve reached an estimated 2.8 million students in the UK. The BP Ultimate STEM Challenge presents young people with new and exciting ways to engage with STEM and use real-world application of science and maths. By helping young people to understand the relevance of STEM subjects and careers to their own lives we hope to encourage them to pursue STEM studies now and into the future.”