National Science and Engineering Week ran between 14th March and 23rd March and Malet Lambert School students started early by attending a Disaster Response Challenge at the University of Hull on 12th March.
Students had to come up with an appropriate response to a natural disaster, including somewhere to store water, a camp for survivors to stay in and shelter that would keep them warm and dry.
Malet Lambert were announced as winners after scoring the highest amount of points in the tasks and showing 'consistent quality across all activities'. The school will receive £100 towards STEM activity equipment and a representative from the University of Hull will come into assembly to present the prize and a certificate for each student.
STEM celebrations continued by involving local primary school Victoria Dock in an activity day that involved all STEM subjects.
The whole day was centred around making a bath bomb from scratch. Pupils started off in Resistant Materials choosing the shape for their fizzy bathtime treat, then created a plastic mould to take with them to Science.
In Science, they learned which chemicals to mix together to make their product, and added a fragrance and colour of their choice.
In Graphics, they developed the brand and design for their bath bomb box and, finally, in Maths, they looked at how much their bath bomb would cost to make and what they should sell it for to make a profit.
Feedback from Victoria Dock was fantastic and students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions.
Next, students took part in a school-wide STEM PSHCEE lesson on Monday. Each year group was given a different task to complete within an hour, that not just focused on creative ability, but also took into account budget control.
Year 7 had to build a tower out of newspaper and art straws that would hold the weight of a golf ball. The tallest one that succeeded would win.
Year 8 were asked to make a catapult out of wooden sticks, rubber bands and a spoon that would propel a plastic ball across the room - the one that went the further distance would win.
Years 9, 10, and 11 were given the same task - to construct a parachute for an egg that would protect it from cracking after a two metre fall. Students had access to straws, bubble wrap, plastic bags, string and sellotape, all in limited supply.
Across the classes, groups were given a budget to 'buy' materials which dictated how much they could buy of each item.
Later in the week, Year 9 students took part in a special activity with engineering education company The Smallpeice Trust.
In groups, they were given the challenge of creating the basic elements of living on an island. This included designing a stable wind turbine, a water pump to bring water into the settlement and a reservoir to store the water.
Students had the guidance of a representative from The Smallpeice Trust, access to a variety of craft materials and electrical components, and, again, were restricted by budget.
Groups then presented their designs and prototypes to their peers and explained the reasons for their choices.
Finally, Year 8 students were invited to spend their morning at the Big Bang Science Fair at the University of Hull on Friday.
There were treated to a marquee full of fun, educational experiments to get involved in, including making sticky goo, racing an F1 car, building DNA strands out of sweets and identifying a variety of animal skulls.
This was followed by a lecture on medical scanning and the different elements of science involved in a body scan.
Science teacher and STEM Coordinator Mr Johansson, organised the week's events and feels they have been greatly beneficial at raising awareness of STEM subjects and associated careers.
He said, “National Science and Engineering Week aims to show students the wealth of opportunities available to them by studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths as well as engaging them in some of the more interesting and exciting areas STEM covers.
"The purpose of all of these activities was to give students an insight into real-life problems which may face people working in these fields as well as developing the key skills they would need such as problem solving and teamwork.
"The students have thoroughly enjoyed the activities and have taken a lot away from them in terms of knowledge and skills, which will hopefully encourage them to pursue a career in STEM.”
All in all, ten days jam-packed full of activities, engaging all students at Malet Lambert, made for a very successful National Science and Engineering Week 2014!