A group of Year 10 students from UTC South Durham participated in Locomotion’s Future Forces event on Friday 21st February 2020. The UTC student group, known as the Science Magnets, created an activity which demonstrated the effects of forces, including gravity, by building catapults and blow rockets. The activity also allowed the event’s attendees to investigate magnetism.

The Future Forces event at Locomotion, an arm of the National Railway Museum in Shildon, saw activities throughout the week of February half-term. The event was designed to help young children explore the theme of forces in novel and engaging ways.

The students involved in the event were Sophie Simpson, Harley Terrington, Eddie Arnold, and Dawson Dellar.

Teacher Jak Heslop, who co-ordinates the Science Magnets group, said: “I was delighted with the way that our students interacted so confidently with the young children and their parents, helping them with the activities and describing the forces involved. We worked with several hundred children during the course of the day, all of whom had a great time and were able to take something home with them”.

The Science Magnets are a group of Year 10 students who run a weekly club which aims to create STEM-focused educational activities for students of primary school age. Every Monday during term time, a group of primary school students visit UTC South Durham and complete a carousel of interactive activities led by the Magnets.