All
teams were given a pre-planned challenge weeks prior to the technology
challenge event to perform on the day, as well as a secret challenge that they
would find out on the day too. Te Mahia School children were participating
alongside children from Nuhaka, Wairoa Primary, Frasertown, and St Joseph’s
school.
First
up the year 3 & 4 teams had to make a ‘Raincoat’ using 6 plastic shopping
bags and cellotape, what they didn’t tell us was that after constructing their
raincoats those children wearing the raincoats were to run through a hose
spraying water. The kids definitely had fun watching participating in that. The
secret challenge for year 3 and 4 teams was the Marble Roll’. Using newspapers
and cellotape the children had to design a device to roll or aim a marble along
the floor to hit a target in the shortest possible time; the marble had to be
dropped into your marble roller device. There were some very interesting constructions
and our tamariki did extremely well constructing their devices. One of our
teams experienced success and hit the target with the marble, ka mau te wehi. Our
tamariki in both teams worked incredibly well together too!
Next up
were the year 5 & 6 teams. A nomadic shelter construction was first on the
agenda. The shelter that teams were constructing out of newspaper, cellotape
and string had to be able to sleep 2 people (kids), and be transported (picked
up and moved to another location) without falling over. Our team gave it their
all but unluckily their shelter fell over just as time was called. I think
reflecting back on their shelter the girls knew that they had to make a
sturdier base for their shelter (newspaper needed to rolled tighter) so that it
could stand on its own. They had constructed an awesome shelter at school the
week before too. Will get it next time girls! The secret challenge for this
year group was the ‘Egg drop’, where the team had to design a container out of
materials (thin card, string, paper, masking tape and a plastic bag) that would
carry the egg safely when dropped from a 4m height. With a cushion bed design
our team’s egg looked like it was in for a safe drop. Unfortunately the egg
smashed on impact with the ground as did most the other teams eggs. I think I
only saw 2 successful egg drops out of 16 teams. Super proud of how our year 5
& 6 team worked and delegated their jobs within the group!
Last
challenges for the day we had the year 7 & 8 teams. We had entered two teams
in this section. The pre-planned challenge was the tallest flagpole. The
challenging part of it was that you weren’t allowed to stick the base of the
flagpole to the ground. One of our teams got their flagpole erected but the others
flagpole fell over just as time ran out. Reflecting back on this challenge the
children identified that they could have had wider bases for better support and
the newspapers needed to be rolled tightly so they wouldn’t bend and sway. The
secret challenge for year 7 & 8’s was to design a surveillance aircraft
using paper, straws and blue tac. They had to use all the straws too and blue
tac seemed an odd material to use as it was heavier in weight than cellotape.
What the judges were looking for was distance and how long the plane could stay
in the air for. Aerodynamics definitely came into play with this challenge. We
had some very creative airplane designs from our tamariki and they had fun
crafting their designs in their groups. Overall there were smiles on the
children’s faces, and I could hear lots of laughter. Ka pai tamariki ma!
The children all had a fun day, it was definitely a learning experience for all involved, and it was great that the children were reflecting on what they could do or change next time if they were to do these challenges again. Thank you to Aunty Les and Cherie for coming along to support the children, and to Sandy our bus driver for transporting us to and from the tech challenge. A massive effort from all our tamariki, you should all be proud of how you worked as a team together and supported each other!
Year 3
& 4 challenges
Year 5
& 6 challenges
Year 7
& 8 challenges