Year 9 STEM Olympics

In June, four of our Year 9 Scientists took part in a challenging STEM Olympics competition at the Grange School in Northwich. During the course of the day, students took part in five exciting activities across the STEM subjects, ranging from computing, to chemistry, to a whole rat dissection! We began the day tackling an ‘amazing’ computer challenge before heading out to launch rockets the students made themselves, coming very close to hitting the target. After the break, students (and staff!) took part in a series of chemistry experiments to identify the ‘sickly sweets’ using diagnostic techniques not usually introduced until A level. Perhaps a highlight for many (but not all!) was the biology activity aptly named ‘Ratatouille’ where students had the incredible opportunity to dissect a whole rat identifying all the major organs. We were very impressed at how sensibly everyone participated and were really successful in this challenge; well done, Wellington! Before the rewards ceremony, our students excelled in the final task of ‘Solar Farewell’ building a solar powered boat to race against other teams. Throughout the day, students diligently completed a Fermi quiz set by the Maths department and akin to questions posed at university interviews. Despite not coming away with any gold medals, the team worked really hard all day and made the school proud – well done on a great day out, STEM Olympians!

 Dr McMahon and Dr Lane