Construction Activities.

6th class took part in the tin foil tower challenge, where they were given only sheets of aluminium foil to build the tallest and strongest free-standing tower possible. They worked in teams, experimenting with folding, rolling, and shaping the foil to make it stable. From the activity, they analysed which designs gave the best balance, strength, and height, learning about structure and teamwork through hands-on problem solving.

K’nex Challenge

On Friday 14^th November pupils in 5^th and 6^th class engaged in the “K’nex Challenge” which was delivered by two members of staff from Dundalk Institute of Technology,Declan Connolly and Thomas Lupton.

These challenges encourage creativity and problem-solving by having students build K’nex models to solve an engineering problem.Pupils were asked to build a bridge to carry a weight .

Participants worked in teams to design and build the model. The models were then put to the test by attaching weights to them.

There were some very successful models built as they were able to carry weights as high as 16kg.

The goal of Knex challenge is to inspire students and encourage them to pursue careers in STEM fields by making engineering fun and engaging. It also helps to promote critical thinking ,problem solving and team work.

Many thanks to Declan and Thomas for increasing the pupils’ awareness of engineering and for making the Knex challenge so enjoyable.

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Engineers Ireland STEPS Young Engineer Award

Engineers Ireland STEPS Young Engineer of the Year award is a competition for primary school students in 3rd and 4th class to develop a creative engineering project to help or improve their local community.

This year pupils in 3rd and 4th class took part in this programme.

Children were tasked with identifying a problem in the local environment and then work in teams to come up with a creative engineering solution. They were also encouraged to focus on sustainability when creating their solution.

By taking part in this program, students got to experience the excitement of designing and building a real project, discover the challenges and creativity involved, and get a true feel for what it’s like to be an engineer.

On Monday 15th of December we had the pleasure of welcoming three engineers from Farrans Engineering company to come and view the completed projects.The engineers were highly impressed by the wonderful, creative creations by our pupils.

The pupils ably presented their projects and posed relevant questions about the world of engineering.

We hope this experience will inspire many of them to consider a future career in construction.

Creating the Projects