Bloodhound
Fuelled by a desire to ‘give something back’, Institution members across the country have been introducing youngsters to Bloodhound SSC and igniting a passion for engineering.
One of those who, around Christmas-time, contacted the Institution and discussed his keenness to volunteer was Lt Thomas Middleditch RN. Training and the obligatory CRB check were swiftly put in place.
“The beginning of February saw me in a science classroom, somewhere I have not ventured in nearly 10 years, in front of a class of thirty 11- and 12-year-olds,” says Thomas. “Not surprisingly, I had a slightly anxious moment as I launched into my initial presentation. But something amazing happened: the kids were genuinely enthused and engaged by Bloodhound SSC, including the underlying engineering principles (drag, thrust, aerodynamics, friction etc). They built, raced – and even decorated the balloon cars to attract sponsorship!”
“I plan to continue my engagement with Bridgemary School through its STEM club, which is likely to have freshly bolstered attendance after the success of the Bloodhound day,” he says.
Many similar events have been taking place. All the volunteers are trained and checked by STEMNET. Then, armed with Bloodhound education toolkits (including balloon-powered vehicles for children to investigate, construct and race) the ambassadors – in many cases with butterflies in their stomach – enter the classroom…
Gordon Strang took the Bloodhound session to Balmuildy Primary School earlier this year and introduced the education tool-kit to Year 6 (ages 10-11) pupils. “The kids thoroughly enjoyed their day,” he reports, “and I must say I got a great feel-good buzz out of it and hope to return with follow-up activities. I aim to visit the same class over the next 18 months so any resources not used this time will certainly be used in the future.”
Adam Towse worked with two Year 7 classes (60 students) at Framwellgate Secondary School, Durham, in February. He says, “The kids really enjoyed it and two teams in particular did very well indeed - the winner sent the balloon car further than I ever have!” The school’s STEM Enrichment Manager, Catherine Purvis-Mawson contacted Adam to thank him for his time and effort and confirmed how much Framwellgate appreciated the session, “The students had a great time! They were still talking about it in assembly the next morning!”
Brian Lowe visited Keldmarsh primary school pupils in Beverley in January. He explains, “The activity was run with Year 4 pupils and seemed to go very well. I asked them to fill in an evaluation form afterwards, in which they described what they did and how their team worked together. The kids reported how they felt about engineering after the Bloodhound activities.”
A sample of feedback goes as follows:
What have you learned?
- that engineers design
- that Bloodhound can go three miles in 10 seconds
How do you feel now?
- very happy!
- I feel I have learned a lot
- awesome!
- that I want to do more
- very clever
- very proud because our car won
- pleased with myself and our team
What do you think about engineering?
- 1000% I want to be an engineer now
- I am very interested in engineering
- that it sounds quite fun
- cool
- that it’s very hard to be one
- it sounds fantastic
- it is a very important job
Mark Goudie hosted a Bloodhound event at St Andrews and St Brides High School, which a variety of primary school pupils and their parents (approximately 120 children) attended in March.
Mark, and quite a few other Bloodhound ambassadors, noted that the only unanticipated challenge seemed to be attaching the wheels to the axis, which was sometimes awkward for little fingers, but said, “Aside from that, we had brilliant materials and a subject that kept a large and varied group entertained.”
Sandra Santhosh, one of the children, summarised: “Bloodhound was amazing! We learned interesting things and I’m looking forward to coming to High School.” Parents were also asked for feedback. Some said they could see how inspiring it was for the youngsters. Another said, “It’s good to see how many different disciplines are involved in one project and the cars are brilliant for getting the kids excited!”
As Thomas Middleditch concludes, in line with the majority of STEM ambassadors’ experiences: “I found the whole day very rewarding and hopefully the children now have a better idea of the exciting career opportunities that studying STEM subjects, and particularly engineering, can unlock.”
For more information:
http://www.stemnet.org.uk/
http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/