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Posted on: March 20th 2018

Our Stem Day Trip at Brunel University London

On Wednesday, 7th February 2018, a group of Year 9 students visited Brunel University, London for a STEM day trip. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Students enjoyed the STEM day at Brunel University. It was an absolutely fantastic experience for all of us as it was very motivational. The staff and student ambassadors from the university were very helpful, kind and informative. We enjoyed all the activities that were set up, they were extremely fun and engaging. We also got a very brief but informative experience of university life. We believe what we have learnt today will be useful for our future. We learnt several things that would help us choose our career path.

When we reached Brunel University, the student ambassadors took us on a campus tour which gave us an idea about university life. We visited the en-suite rooms and student kitchens in the residential area. We also visited lecture rooms, the sports centre and got a bird’s eye view of the massive sports hall. The tour was very informative and entertaining and showed us how vast the campus was.

During the day we completed a number of activities, including chocolate welding, car building, flying drones, budgeting and the Flight Simulator. We learned about the different actions of a plane, such as dipping, pitching, and rolling. Akhash answered most of the questions immediately and correctly, therefore he got a ride on the flight simulator which he had to land in Gatwick Airport. He completed this activity successfully. A few other students also managed to complete this activity.

Stem Day trip The next activity was chocolate welding which the students thoroughly enjoyed. The challenge was to see how much weight our chocolate bridges could hold. The melted chocolate was welded into the other chocolate bars to form a bridge.

After that, we took part in flying drones. The drones were very interesting to use as it was like nothing we have ever seen before. Our Stem Day trip task was to attach a helium balloon to the drone and fly it to the designated area while carrying a Lego piece. Some groups managed to accomplish this task while others struggled as they could not balance the weight. For example, the string holding the balloon was blocking the propellers from spinning properly, or the weight was not balanced.

Building a model car was the final activitiy. We all worked in pairs to build a car using the equipment provided. We were given limited time and resources, and the task was to build the most efficient car, which could travel the fastest. At the end of the session, we had a car race. The winning teams received prizes.

All the students appreciated this fantastic opportunity. Everyone loved the idea of doing various types of activities. The best thin Stem Day trip g about it was that the STEM day covered information about a lot of courses. For example, we looked at an aeronautic engineering laboratory and a sports car and motorbike laboratory, where we learned how students at the university built sports cars and motorbikes using various resources, to make them more efficient. Many students liked the budgeting session as it provided information about how the university students manage and organise their budget.