STEM Army days

On 3rd and 4th October, Year 7 students spent a day with the Army, Capt. Charlotte Wilson, Sgt Noel Brooksbank, Cpl Lucy Moiwo and LCpl La-Toya Vernon from Sandhurst spent a day with the girls developing their STEM skills.

Friday 4th October 2019

On the 4th October, some soldiers from the army came to Presdales to do some activities with Year 7.

First, we had an assembly, in the lecture theatre, where they told us what it was like in the army. Some of the jobs that you can do in the army, include: being a scientist, an engineer, a teacher, a doctor, a dental nurse, a vet and many more. They also told us more about themselves. Noel is a sergeant and his job is to skydive out of planes. He enjoys cycling and was inspired by his dad and uncle to join the army. Lucy is an artillery officer; she hands out and organizes the weapons for everyone else. She went horse riding in the Rockies, in Canada, and, even though she is scared of heights, she enjoys rock climbing. La Toya is a dental nurse. She lived in Germany for 3 years; her sport is netball and she did the test to get a job in the army on her 17th birthday. Charlotte is a captain and is the pilot of planes that the other soldiers fly in. She is also a cross-country skiing instructor and she has a dog called Lola.

The first main activity was to design an army vest for soldiers working in the harsh environments, needing to keep cool, yet protected. They had to be light but strong so the soldiers could still carry all the other equipment they need as well as staying safe. This activity was quite challenging, although very fun to do as a team and to put all of our ideas together.

The next activity was to build a car with a working engine. We had to cooperate as a team to construct the car- without being given any instructions, apart from when we were given a clue on how to power the car. To make it move, we had to attach a rubber band to the bar connecting the wheels and twist it around to create energy so the wheels would spin, making it travel a short distance. Then, the other half of our team (on the other side of the room) had to swap the wheels onto their frame for the car and send it back.

After lunch, we were given some giant top trumps cards to put together of vehicles used in the army. We were told what they did, where they were used and who might use them. In the same lesson, we had a puzzle that we had to piece together. We worked as a class to follow the instructions to complete the task and found it quite hard but managed to do it in the end.

The next activity was to design a helmet suitable for all environments. We had to camouflage it and make it light but it also had to keep the soldiers safe and be easy to carry around. We were shown lots of different types of hats used in the army and how important they are as they keep lots of people safe; some people got to try them on.

The last activity of the day was outside. We played lots of games with the soldiers, took part in races with them and had a game of “tug of war”. We then worked in teams of three to try and build the image we had been given on the iPad. One person had to describe the picture to their teammates while the others were trying to build it. It definitely was a challenge as some of the images were quite hard, but it was really fun at the same time.

It was amazing having the army come to Presdales as they were really inspiring and interesting and we definitely learnt a lot. Overall, the day was really fun and informative and we would definitely love to have the army come visit us again soon.

Clara and Hattie