ContactApply

Middle College Year 8 Take on EPro8 Challenge

August 23, 2018 at 2:54 PM

Learning opportunities for our students take many different forms! Whilst a team representing the Middle College had recent success at a regional event, over the last two days, the Goodfellow Centre has been a fast-paced hub of engineering teamwork as all our own Year 8 students, working in small groups, pooled their problem-solving skills to compete in the EPro8 Challenge.

EPRO8 pits teams of students against one another to complete a variety of tasks in a set amount of time. Each team was located at a workstation that contained an impressive assortment of equipment, including gears, wheels, pulleys, weights, tools, aluminium framing, motors and electronics. Working quickly and collaboratively, the teams were required to plan/design and build a range of solutions to novel problems, all within certain specifications and under time pressure. The heat was on! 

The tasks were not simple and had many dimensions to them, such as creating a solar powered alarm with a light that would tip the occupant out of bed while bringing bring breakfast to them! No easy feat to solve! Practical problems were solved, machines invented to complete tasks, electronic circuits were constructed and mathematical workings employed.

In addition, there was a need for some strategic thinking. The harder the challenge, the greater the possible score – but there was not enough time for the teams to complete all the challenges – the strategy required working out which best to choose for maximum points in the allocated time! Throughout the challenge, a live leader board kept track of the score, increasing the sense of urgency and competition.

With three full on sessions over two days, it was a group of girls who came out overall winners! Rosie Smith, Emma Straka, Jacqueline Cao and Mia Wakerly worked collaboratively and effectively to complete their task, gaining the most points overall. With a nationwide focus on encouraging more girls into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) focussed careers, the girls are on the right path to succeed. Well done girls!

This was a fantastic learning opportunity for our Middle College students to work collaboratively on tasks that were mentally challenging, requiring them to draw on scientific, technological and mathematical principles, while learning to listen and value each other’s opinions – all valuable skills for future learning.

 

Back to News List