Bringing their interdisciplinary topic to a close, Primary 7 pupils at Hermitage Primary School took part in their Technology Challenge presentation evening on Thursday 6th February. Incorporating Technologies, Maths, Language, Science and PSD, the Technology Challenge required pupils to work in cooperative groups to plan and design a working electrical vehicle which was supported by a good business plan. Their progress had to be recorded in form of a booklet and PowerPoint presentation. Vehicles were to move forwards, backwards and have working lights and were to be created within a tight budget. However, the stakes were raised this year as groups put grant applications forward to the Head Teacher in order to add extra technology such as LED lights, pulley operated doors and even a spinning doughnut to enhance their vehicles.
Following weeks of hard work, last week, the 9 teams of 5-6 pupils spoke to a panel of 3 judges and an audience of invited guests and gave a presentation highlighting their achievements.
The judges were Mrs Kim Fletcher – Technical Department, Hermitage Academy, Mr Colin Gardiner – Engineering Manager (retired), Thales and Mr Alistair Milton – Graduate Engineer. In her summing up speech, Mrs Fletcher commented on how difficult it was to choose a winner as they had been very impressed with the efforts of all teams.
The winning team was Love, Life, Location. This team impressed the judges with their mobile wedding chapel which included mock stained glass windows and a battery operated pulley system on the door to allow for disabled access. The delighted team members were Jemma Doherty, Rosie Sumsion, Ryan Thomson, Connor McCabe, Alicja Blasinska and Sandy McCallum.