Year 9 Disaster Challenge

During the morning the students were presented with the real life scenario surrounding Hurricane Mitch in Honduras in 1998. The presentation sessions provided the students with a good insight into real, practical problems to solve. It was useful to have their questions answered by the experts!

The tasks for the morning session were varied and challenging for the students. They involved researching facts and figures, identifying suitable fresh water sources, transportation routes for supplies and material needed for shelter for the victims. Using various maps and information, they also had to identify the best position for a refugee camp. Each team then had to present all of their ideas to the rest of the groups.
The afternoon was spent outside with teams working on one of two physical activities. Half of them worked on the water supply route, over mountains and marches, using a given amount of materials. They had drainpipe, canes and rubber bands. The rest designed and made shelters using canes , bands and two sheets of plastic. They needed to budget for any extra materials used. Each teams projects were tested with an appropriate amount of water!

The practical tasks prompted them to produce some imaginative ideas. It has certainly given them a taste of realistic engineering tasks, with specific constraints and deadlines to work within.

The feedback sessions worked very well, as the students were able to hear constructive comments on their work relatively quickly, as well as maintaining the competition element with regular updates on the scoreboard. The pace of the whole day was appropriate for the age of the students and kept them focussed for the entire activity.
The feedback from ICE was very positive. They thought that our students were enthusiastic, worked very well as teams and had a positive attitude to getting things done. They were very impressed.

9F as ‘To  Hell and Back’ were the winning team.