Science and Engineering Challenge 2008
On the 15th March we attended the Kings School in Gloucester to do a science and engineering challenge for our school. We took part with other schools including Parton Manor and Longlevens. We had three challenges. The first one was to make a torpedo rocket that was shot out of a machine, by Adam pressing a red button. The second challenge was to make an aeroplane that was powered by balloons and the third challenge was to make a machine that bursts balloons. The man in charge of the competition gave us a choice. We could either do only two of the challenges and concentrate on them or we could make all three of them. We chose the harder option and built all three machines.
Whilst Ellie and Bethany were working on the torpedo rocket the boys (Adam and Tim) were working on the aeroplane. It worked out fine. Ellie and Bethany were fine working on the torpedo rocket until Ellie decided to go and see how the boys were getting on. The next person Bethany saw was Adam coming to help her and he told her that Ellie had made up her mind and decided she was going to finish off the aeroplane with Tim. That was fine with Bethany. When Adam came over he was just in time to help her glue on the fins of our torpedo rocket. In the end we finished it so we took it over to the other room where Ellie and Tim had just finished the aeroplane. Adam and Bethany then went to launch the rocket. When we found out the result for that we were surprised. We had come third. Then it was time to launch the aeroplane. It was supposed to fly but it didn’t. It just kind of dropped off the table. But Tim then asked the judges if he could throw it to see if it really flew. And guess what? It flew. Then we found out the results. We had come first. We got a cup for our school and a medal each.
It was then time to make our bursting balloon machine. We stuck loads of pins to the bottom of it and then secured it with sticky tape over the side which didn’t have any spikes pointing up. We then put a box over the top of it and made a little hole in each side so a long piece of cardboard could fit through it. Then we blew loads of balloons up and stuck four little pieces of play-doh to them with sticky tape because we found out that if you didn’t have any weight on a balloon and then put it on a pin all it would do was bounce off instead of pop. We then took that to the mission room (which was just a hall) to find out that our machine wasn’t good enough. So in that challenge we didn’t get placed. We all had fun on that day representing our school in something we would all love to do again. But we were happy with what we came home with and felt happy for the other two schools that
came first on their machines. That was the end of our day.
Report Written by Bethany