Celebration of STEM
Students of KGS took part in a Celebration of STEM day held at the Kings Street Halls and hosted by YESC (Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland). KGS has a weekly Computing Club (codeOrkney.club) which meets on Wednesday at lunchtime and encourages students to take part in extracurricular activities and develop personal projects to widen their knowledge and experience. The Celebration of STEM event was a perfect opportunity for the club members from KGS and students from other schools in Orkney to come together and celebrate the work they had done in the last year, showcasing their STEM projects, meeting prospective employers and have fun with a series of STEM challenges.
KGS fielded a Team of S1's in the Pylon challenge who made a minimalist pylon design to meet a strict specification of a pylon delivering power to Eynhallow from Evie over the sea, it had to withstand wind and gravitational forces and carry two power lines whilst maintaining constant power delivery. On the day their design was tested to destruction and the team were pleased to see their design held up to more than double the required specification and impressed judges by using very few parts to match the brief.
KGS fielded a Team of S1's in the Pylon challenge who made a minimalist pylon design to meet a strict specification of a pylon delivering power to Eynhallow from Evie over the sea, it had to withstand wind and gravitational forces and carry two power lines whilst maintaining constant power delivery. On the day their design was tested to destruction and the team were pleased to see their design held up to more than double the required specification and impressed judges by using very few parts to match the brief.
KGS also fielded 2 teams of senior students who collectively demonstrated: prize winning games and animations they had coded, past STEM projects like Micro:bit controlled traffic lights, future STEM projects just as solar panel tracking using Raspberry Pi and Micro:bit, last years Advanced Higher custom built database management systems and the servers built to house them, and a study into the most efficient algorithms to draw Chess boards. The seniors also met prospective employers (Kyloe Partners pictured) and impressed them with their professional projects in a wide range of areas.
KGS Team 2 was nominated for an award for their efforts on the day where they scored the most points in the STEM challenges and took home prizes and a certificate for their efforts.
KGS Team 2 was nominated for an award for their efforts on the day where they scored the most points in the STEM challenges and took home prizes and a certificate for their efforts.
Mr Soames (Teacher of Computing Science) commented, "We are really grateful to YESC for giving our young talent this opportunity to shine, all our young engineers have dedicated their own time and energy to solving complex STEM problems they are passionate about, they have expanded their skills along the way and stepped outside of the curriculum to widen their knowledge. These behaviours and talents make these young people super employable for the future, and with strong problem solving skills we hope to see them doing big things in our community in years to come. The winning teams are thoroughly deserving (a special mention to Rousay Primary's Owls) and our plan is to continue to field more of our Computing Club students in competitions starting with "Orkney Sun" in September, and Cyberfirst challenges in November".
KGS Team 2 winners pictured above include Stephen (left), Euan, Jake, and Mansie(right) who are all studying Computing Science and entering S6 this year, they are receiving their prizes presented by representatives from SSEN.
KGS Team 2 winners pictured above include Stephen (left), Euan, Jake, and Mansie(right) who are all studying Computing Science and entering S6 this year, they are receiving their prizes presented by representatives from SSEN.
