Monday 25 July 2016

So I took some children to Space Apps...

Just over a week ago, I took a group of children to the Met Office, Exeter, to take part in NASA's Space Apps Challenge. It's a challenge aimed at developers, engineers, designers, scientists and other enthusiasts; most people would look at that list and come to the sensible conclusion that it is for the adults in society - I didn't.

Having been to Space Apps Exeter since 2012 (missing only one because of a family wedding,) I have come to understand it is a community of people who are creative, inspiring, intelligent and welcoming. I've collaborated with people all over the world and made friends who I'd never normally have met. I've had my eyes opened to the potentials of using code and hardware for the good of the species and was hooked by the fact that these people give their time and skills for free to achieve this. As a teacher with an interest in STEAM (science, tech, engineering, art and maths) education, it seemed very logical to expose the children I work with to this amazing experience. A careers day in the future is unlikely to show them the same levels of excitement.

Having felt slightly out of my depth at my first event, only really able to contribute to the storytelling of my team. I wanted to be able to contribute more, but my pace of learning code wasn't fast enough and I'd probably be a danger to myself if armed with a soldering iron. So now, when the challenges are released, I scroll through the challenges looking for potential to adapt one to my range of expertise - education and playing! One year I found a challenge which asked for a presentation and managed to get participants from other teams to come and play with plasticine. This year, we were asked to create prototypes for folding or inflatable structures. The site said out of paper, 3D printed or modelled virtually; clearly they had forgotten to include balloons!

Yes, the project was a bit bonkers but it was never intended to be ordinary. I wanted the children to see that completing the prototype was possible if they worked together. I planned to get them to understand that solving problems could be fun but that they had the power and imagination to create solutions even at the age of 9 and 10. But mostly, I just wanted them to see what was possible in a maximum of about 26 consecutive hours (if you didn't sleep!) how people could be motivated by finding answers rather than simply making money.

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