As part of Science Week 2022, Year 5 pupils from 24 primary schools in Thanet were invited for a STEM Day at St Lawrence College, also known as the Thanet Science and Engineering Challenge.
The pupils had an enriching day full of exciting challenges and events that were hosted in the state-of-the-art Canon Perfect Centre at St Lawrence College.
Challenges included the ‘spaghetti tower challenge’, the ‘potato experiment’, ‘rocket launching’, a team quiz and finally, the much-loved Chemical Magic Show. In order to gain points, each school had to score highly in the challenges throughout the day.
During the morning session they competed in three experiments and one of which was the rocket challenge. The task was to construct a water rocket and then launch it across the school astroturf pitch. The second challenge was to build spaghetti towers considering stability and height. The objective for this challenge was to balance a chocolate egg on top of the tower to see how long the tower would hold it for and the team with the longest time were awarded the most points. The third challenge was to explore the best way to produce the maximum volume of oxygen when adding diluted hydrogen peroxide to segments of potato. The pupils had to decide which method would be most effective in completing this task.
The pupils from each school were then invited into the dining hall to enjoy a delicious lunch with their teachers before heading back to the Canon Perfect Centre to take part in the fun and challenging team quiz.
The day was a huge success and all the pupils engaged with the activities with great enthusiasm and team spirit. The day was finished off wonderfully with the famous St Lawrence Chemical Magic Show in the Taylor Hall theatre. Mr Wilde and Mr Nichols put on a fabulous chemistry demonstration for the children. With fire, flames, bubbles and explosions the audience were captivated throughout the show.
After the show, the Head of College Mr Durrant awarded certificates and vouchers to the winning primary schools. Congratulations to all Chartfield Primary school pupils for coming in the first place, Wingham Primary second place and Ramsgate Holy Trinity CE in the third place. Well-deserved wins!
St Lawrence College are looking forward to hosting the next Thanet Science and Engineering Challenge in 2023!