12 budding scientists from Woodham Academy recently had the opportunity to work with other students from across the region to complete a string of taxing technological challenges that tested both their scientific understanding and their ability to work as part of a team. The students, who were from Year 7 and Year 8, were taking part in the Durham Science and Technology day hosted at New College Durham.
The activities of the day challenged students to put them themselves in the position of professionals in a range of different careers in order to explore how they use science and technology on a day to day basis in order to complete their work. Throughout the entire process, students were judged on how they approached and completed the tasks as a team, by a group of experts from universities and local industry.
The challenges the groups were faced with included using genuine police ‘efit’ technology to construct an image of a phone stealing felon and programming a robot to successfully navigate a series of tricky obstacles. Finally, students had to place themselves in the position of medical practitioners by performing diagnostic tests in order to eliminate potential diagnosis and pinpoint the correct ones. All these challenges, made the day a very stimulating and demanding one (not least for Mrs Scott who, at various times, had to be in role as both a hardened criminal for the photo fit challenge and a barely conscious pensioner in need of an accurate diagnosis).
Under the watchful eye of the mayor of the city of Durham, the Woodham students performed extremely well. Although they just missed out on overall victory, they successfully won a number of the individual challenges and were presented with numerous certificates and trophies. This, along with the invaluable experience of using sophisticated science and technology in a practical context, made the day a hugely enjoyable and rewarding one for all involved.
