Pupils at Beamont Collegiate Academy tackle real-world problems with robots
Photo credit: Chris Hillidge TCAT
Year 9 pupils at Beamont Collegiate Academy in Warrington have been delving into the fascinating world of robotics as part of the Engineering Educates: Robotics Challenge education campaign. Read on to find out what they did and get ideas for your classroom.
Guided by Design and Technology teacher Kate Dodgson, pupils have been exploring how to think and work like engineers, whilst learning how robots can be developed to solve real-world challenges, through the Shop-a-bot Challenge for 11-14 year-olds.
Engineering Educates: Robotics Challenge, an inclusive campaign for 7-14 year-olds, encourages creativity, critical thinking, and hands-on STEM learning. Pupils use the engineering design process as a basis for working through themed challenges with robotics contexts including ocean observation and shopping robots.
Photo credit: Chris Hillidge TCAT
Beamont pupils focused on a specific challenge, the Shop-a-bot Challenge, more specifically Session 1 and Session 2.
Chris Hillidge, Director of STEM at TCAT (The Challenge Academy Trust), witnessed the pupils taking part and noted:
“It was great to drop into one of our schools and catch our Year 9 pupils building robots with micro:bits.”
While building the robots the Get Making Guides were indispensable for prototyping.
These guides were an important pillar to build on, to focus on the mico:bit extension task.
“This campaign isn’t just about building machines—it’s about making an impact. Pupils are learning how to think in the same way engineers do, through the context of robotics engineering which shows how STEM can be a force for good, tackling some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. By participating in Engineering Educates: Robotics Challenge, these young innovators are gaining the confidence and skills needed to become the engineers and problem-solvers of tomorrow.”
Photo credit: Chris Hillidge TCAT
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