Buoyancy, density, mass, volume… just some of the keywords Year 7 students got to grips with during Marine Engineering STEM workshops this week. Designed to inspire young people to consider a career in the Marine industry and delivered by the Marine Society and Sea Cadets organisation, the workshops were hands-on from start to finish.
If you’re wondering what STEM stands for, it’s: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Students encountered all four aspects of STEM as they engaged in practical activities and experiments which taught them about buoyancy, displacement, density and Newton’s 3rd Law.
The workshop leader enchanted Year 7 with the story of Archimedes Principle whilst she demonstrated the principle itself, showing how the upward buoyant force that is exerted on a body immersed in a fluid, whether fully or partially, is equal to the weight of the fluid that the body displaces. Following this, in teams of three, students worked together to turn a small piece of card and tin foil into a ship of their own. Each team then filled their ship with marbles, one at a time, until their ship sank! One student said “I really learnt a lot! The lady made it easy to understand things”
