RICHMOND SCHOOL STUDENTS COMPETE IN ANNUAL ROTARY TECHNOLOGY TOURNAMENT
Before Easter, 16 Richmond School students spent the day at the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) base in Catterick Garrison, where they took part in the annual Rotary Technology Tournament. Over 40 teams of four students took part in the competition which was organised by the Rotary Club of Northallerton with the help of Thirsk, Wensleydale, Northallerton Mowbray and Richmond Rotary Clubs.
The task was to design and manufacture a wooden model which fired a projectile through a hoop, as close as possible to a 3m high point, and then have it return using a parachute to land in a target area.
Thank you to the three students who wrote reports on the event, giving an insight into the creativity, teamwork and planning that was needed to be successful.
First, Alexander Reid, Year 10:
“When we arrived at the warehouse we checked in and were shown to our tables, where we would be working for the next six hours. It started with a brief explanation of what the tournament was, then we were given sheets which detailed the task we had to perform.
First we were given 15 minutes to come up with our design, then the making started. During the making we put together a portfolio of how we came up with our design, our inspiration for our design, and drawings of our design. The portfolio was then handed to the judges over our lunch break, to be handed back to us later in the day.
After our lunch break, making continued up to 14:45, when we stopped and the official testing started. After the testing, while the judges were putting together the results we got shown around some of the vehicles being kept and repaired in the warehouse. When the judges had finished, they announced the results and we got back on the minibus and returned to school.”
These were Alexander’s thoughts about the day: “Overall I thought that the day was a fun event and a good taster to what being an engineer is like, be it an aerospace engineer or an environmental engineer. I think that everyone who took part in the competition found it a fun and educational experience.”
Second, Isabella Thompson, Year 9:
“Once we arrived at the event we were quickly separated into our teams and soon got to work on the project. We were told to build a space capsule launcher that featured a launch mechanism. Our team quickly started to brainstorm ideas and delegated tasks for each member of the team to ensure we worked as efficiently and effectively as possible.
We were assessed throughout the day on our teamwork and time management. We put together our portfolio to have it ready by 12:00 when it needed to be submitted. Everyone contributed towards this: we drew diagrams and sketches of our ideas and evaluated why the design we chose was best suited to solve the problem. Throughout the building process our team recorded our progress in a work diary. We had the opportunity to work independently within our team and expanded on our skills we have previously learned in class.
Once we had assembled our model, we took it over to the launch pads to test it. Here we faced some problems however, as a team, we were able to overcome them.
Our launch mechanism wasn’t working in the way we had hoped but after we discussed the problem we were able to find a solution that resulted in our “space capsule” launching much higher in the air.
This tournament was unlike anything we had ever done and therefore it was a challenging but enjoyable experience. It allowed us to create effective solutions to difficult problems. We worked together within the team and everyone provided valuable advice and suggestions.
We all thoroughly enjoyed this educational trip and found it to be highly beneficial in teaching us new skills and showing us how to think creatively to solve a given problem.”
Finally, Myles Fairhurst, Year 10:
“We arrived in Catterick in the morning and were shown into the hangar where we would take our seats at our own individual tables with our teams.
We were given half an hour to look at the design brief and plan how to make it. After that half an hour we were allowed to start building our design. We also had to submit a design portfolio as well as the final working design. The design portfolio had to include any sketches we made and the drawn final design along with why we chose it and the analysis of the model.
We then had lunch at 12:00 and continued to work until 14:30 when the final testing began.
Most designs managed to launch the ball really far into the air whereas some others not so much. The winners were announced at the end of the day and presented with a certificate and a trophy.
It was a really great experience to work with other people and meet others from other schools in the area. All in all it was a very fun and exciting day”
Mr. Wilson, teacher of Design and Technology, accompanied the students on the day and had this to say afterwards: “All Richmond School students were a credit to the school in every possible way. It was a highly competitive environment with over 40 other teams competing, so for one of our teams to come 4th was quite an achievement.”
These were the students who took part in the day:
Year 9: Isla Jenkinson, Aaron Deakin, Isabella Thompson, Katie Smart, Zoe Bradford, Elsie Boyd, Mia Brooks-Skingle, Ellen Carr
Year 10: Olivia Horton, Ethan Aston, Leo Kettlewell, Myles Fairhurst, Alexander Reid, Will Lishman, Mereseini Baleilekutu, Sophie Tarran