Solving challenges, making robots and navigating Mars doesn’t sound like an ordinary school day but for these Wrexham pupils that is exactly what it was.
16 schools came to the Catrin Finch Centre at Glyndwr University for a special event where children were tasked with challenges linked to Mars Exploration.
Pupils aged between 9 and 14 used their creativity to make robots to navigate the canyons of Mars using special technology and their own individual design flare.
Working in groups, children and teachers took part in a number of challenges that tested science, technology, engineering and maths skills. Pupils used coding to guide their robots through a course, designed to imitate the surface of Mars.
Simon Billington, Wrexham Council said, “This event tested the pupils’ creativity, problem solving and digital skills. Not only was it challenging, but it was also a lot of fun. We were pleased that a total of 16 schools attended the event and we hope to do more events like this in the future to support the upcoming new curriculum in Wales.”
Throughout the day pupils and teachers used a range of devices and equipment including Lego, Crumble, Microbit, Chromebooks and Google Classroom to help them test their ideas and find possible solutions to the problems faced in Mars Exploration.
The event was run by Wrexham’s Schools ICT Support Service and sponsored by Wrexham’s Google Partner, Getech Education with additional support from, Redfern Electronics, Reads Construction and Creative Hut.
The attending schools were:
St Pauls
All Saints
Pentre
Tanyfron
Brynteg
Gwersyllt
St Giles
Sant Dunawd – Overall Winner across all Challenges
Heulfan – Winner – Best Team Identity
Acrefair
Garth
Black Lane
Penygelli – Winner KS2 Pupils
Rhosnesni
Bryn Alyn
St Christophers – Winner KS3 Pupils
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