In December Gravity supplier, Stantec, visited Woolavington Village Primary School to challenge Years 3-6 pupils with its Gravity Green Bridge Lego STEM Activity.
The STEM activity introduced engineering to the Woolavington pupils, by using Lego to familiarise pupils to the construction of the ‘Green Bridge’ over Enterprise Way near Puriton and Woolavington. As well as introducing engineering as a career, the activity aimed to help build soft skills such as communication, creativity and teamwork.
During the 50-minute activity, Stantec introduced pupils to the bridge-building challenge using an interactive presentation giving them an insight into civil engineering and the Gravity ‘Green Bridge’. The pupils were split into smaller teams of 4-5. The session was split into the Construction, Testing and Reflection stages.
The Woolavington students enthusiastically built their Green Bridges to span a road on their team mats. Using their problem-solving and teamwork skills, many exciting and creative bridge designs were constructed. Once the bridges were constructed, each team tested their bridge strength with a variety of weights and with a Hot Wheels truck which had to pass freely beneath the bridge.
The activity concluded with a short recap asking pupils what they had learned from the activity. Each of the teams then collected their “Outstanding Engineers” award certificates.
Claire Pearce, Director of Planning & Economic Development at This is Gravity commented “Encouraging young local talent into the world of STEM and its opportunities is critical to delivering long-term local employment opportunities at Gravity. Engagement with our suppliers such as Stantec to deliver these types of sessions in local schools is just part of Gravity’s wider approach to creating genuine social value.“
