The great roller coaster challenge

Mosslands School was pleased to welcome Dr Leah Ridgway and undergraduate Engineering ambassadors from the University of Liverpool Electrical Engineering Department who worked with a group of Year 9 pupils on a STEM challenge.

Pupils learnt about what engineering is and the wide variety of careers available to young people.

Pupils learnt that engineering plays a big part in an exciting range of businesses and industries, including space, transport, medicine, technology, food, fashion, construction and much more. 

One pupil wrote..

The STEM day was a new and exciting experience. It showed everyone how the engineering World was progressing into different areas of technology. It allowed me to review potential careers choices, with the aim of always looking for an option that would suit me the most! It was also great fun and a good way to make new friends and to see what other people think about designing and building a challenging roller coaster.

With engineering, pupils learnt they can follow their interests –e.g. making a difference to people’s lives, by helping to develop artificial limbs or by working in a team to rebuild a community following a natural disaster.

During the session pupils worked in teams as engineers to prove they could make an exciting rollercoaster to meet a set of design objectives by just using a limited among of paper, card and sellotape, with the longest ride using a marble declared the winner. Pupils learnt a range of valuable skills sharing ideas, working as a team, and coming up with a range of creative solutions.