Discovering STEAM at Leighton Park

The 2019 Big Bang Interactive event was a fascinating foray into all things Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) for almost 250 visiting pupils and our delighted Year 7s on Monday 11^th March 2019.

Workshops run by industry professionals including Intel, Bion, Volume AI, Pfizer, Reading University, RSSL SAM Labs, Design Thinking and Discovery with Three, as well as by Leighton Park’s own academic team, were organised around an hilarious STEAM-themed presentation by scientists and entertainers, Science Boffins, to create a morning which was lively, interactive and full of fun!

Science Boffins entertained students with tales of the poorly elephant with toothache and they giggled at the huge amount of toothpaste needed to help him. They used the Bernouili’s air flow principle to figure out just how big their lungs are and discovered where a stream of air goes, by following the flying loo roll! As one delighted member of the audience put it, “I liked Science Boffins because you got to see cool things in real life!”.

Intel’s ‘Mars Rovers’ offered students an introduction to programming as they attempted to program an electronic vehicle to navigate a maze and understand how their code works to do this whereas, Discovery with used their workshop to create some fantastic Stop Motion Animation movies with the enthusiastic pupils using LEGO in their films and emulating the style of Wallace & Gromit or LEGO Movie. Bion focussed on the lean principle used in manufacturing, showing how knowledge gained in the automotive industry can be applied to other sector whilst Pfizer’s workshops looked at controlling the spread of disease and how medicines make it to market.

The team from artificial intelligence specialists, Volume Ltd, provided students with a chance to experience the future with humanoids and immersive content. With them, they brought along Pepper the robot and his maths adventure application. The children were able to take a look behind the scenes and were shown the basic development of Pepper’s applications. Pepper is two years old and therefore, 304 years old in robot years. He costs a total of £20,000 and possesses many skills including playing the saxophone! Pepper can follow you with his eyes and listen to what is going on in the room!  He can often be found in Volume Ltd’s reception, greeting visitors coming into the office.

Leighton Park’s science department and Reading University’s RSSL both ran CSI style laboratory based sessions, as children donned lab coats and safety specs, undertaking experiments to solve a  ‘Cookie Crisis’ and to learn ‘Who stole the chocolate!’. The laboratory sessions were very popular with one pupil noting, “I learned about different chemical reactions. It was a lot of information when we were watching the science demonstration. When we were doing the marshmallow challenge, I learned that teamwork is the most important part.”

In Reading University’s second workshop children learnt about elements of the brain in a hands-on session which involved a STREP test to investigate the attention process. Using a model of the brain, children were also able to see neurons in the brain and the shape of these. Design Thinking Ltd challenged pupils to build the tallest tower they could using only tape, marshmallows, string and spaghetti. SAM Labs taught a hands-on session programming electronic vehicles through wireless, electronic blocks and intuitive software.

Also working with cars, Leighton Park’s Design & Technology department used a blunt hacksaw blade to power a small car and teach children about the power of potential energy. Experiments with different componentry allowed students to maximise the kinetic energy generated and culminated in a competition with prizes awarded for the longest runs of the day!

The morning proved to be a great success with positive feedback from the pupils excited to have learnt so much from the event. “I learnt lots of things throughout this amazing experience, including: medicines, neurons, chemical reactions and much more!” commented one visitor, whilst another added, “I learnt that failure is good and failure doesn’t have to a negative thing”. Their accompanying teachers were also pleased with the day with Waverley School commenting, “A great day!  Very well organised with so many attendees.  A wonderful school, full of friendly adults and children, with super facilities.  Thank you for having us.”

Maths teacher and Lead on Leighton Park’s Outreach Programme, Mark Budge, commented, “It is vital that we spark interest in STEAM subjects from an early age. Big Bang Interactive delivered this to an outstanding level, thanks to the amazing efforts of all our workshop partners. This has definitely been the best year yet!”