On Wednesday 8^th May, eight Rode Heath pupils spent the morning at Fenton Manor Sports Complex sharing and testing their lighthouse designs with engineers and six other primary schools.

This was the culmination of many weeks of hard work, researching about lighthouse architecture and constructing their own model versions. Many skills were learned in the process such as accurate measurement; cutting and joining techniques and creating electrical circuits.

The morning involved being interviewed by a selection of engineers who were interested in the research the children had carried out as well as the rationale behind their design choices.

Rigorous testing

This was followed by testing the structures for their stability on a specially constructed device which tilted the lighthouses and measured the angle of tilt they were able to withstand. The children learned that turning their structures by 45 degrees had a significant impact on the angle of tilt they achieved due to spreading out the centre of gravity. The tilting platform was designed to replicate resistance to natural phenomena such as earthquakes and flooding.

The project had been organized by Primary Engineer and sponsored by GivEnergy, who provided all the equipment to schools.

Opportunities to interact with real engineers

It was a great opportunity to communicate and share their enthusiasm for engineering – a subject that we are passionate about at Rode Heath. Indeed, the engineers were very impressed by the girls’ eloquence and ability to explain the challenges that they had faced whilst building their lighthouses.

And, we were delighted that two of our pupils were awarded medals for the stability and overall design of their lighthouses.

Highlights of the morning

A favourite part of the event was testing the lighthouses’ stability.

Ava (year 4), who achieved one of the engineering awards, commented: “The most exciting thing I did today was the testing of my lighthouse’s stability by tilting it. My score was originally 24, but when I turned it by 45 degrees my score increased by 9 degrees because the gravity spread out to all of the corners.”

Maisie (year 5) enjoyed constructing the electrical circuits. She told the engineers, “My uncle is an electrician and he helped me to understand how the circuit worked.”

Lillie-Anne (year 4), who also won a prize for her design, enjoyed talking to the engineers. She commented, “I really enjoyed talking to real engineers about my lighthouse. I was nervous at first, but they were really nice.”

The project was run by Mrs Caroline Pecora, Y4 teacher and Design and Technology Lead, supported by Miss Chloe Beard, Y5 teacher at Rode Heath. The sessions were delivered in a weekly after school club to which budding engineers were invited. Each pupils constructed their own lighthouse, which was at times quite complicated. Thanks must go to all the parents who gave up their afternoons to help ensure the models were finished on time.

We now need to think about our next engineering theme . . .