Four schools in South East London, Charter East School, Charter North School, Elmgreen, and Dunraven came together to participate in an exciting hands-on Air Quality STEM Challenge in June.
The event aimed to engage Year 9 students in a meaningful project where teamwork, critical thinking, and STEM skills were put to the test. The challenge tasked students with investigating air pollution near their schools and creating evidence-based policies to improve air quality. Each team, consisting of a project manager, policy advisor, data analyst, engineer, and coder, worked together seamlessly. They built sensors to collect real data, analyzed this data against World Health Organization safe limits, and developed compelling evidence-based policies for their head teachers to consider.
This hands-on experience was designed not only to hone students' STEM skills but also to encourage them to pursue STEM careers, ensuring that our future STEM workforce reflects the diversity of our population.
The Air Quality STEM Challenge was made possible through the collaboration between Physics with Kate’s STEM Workshops and Mums for Lungs. Thanks to their efforts, each pupil earned an Industrial Cadet Challenger Award, recognising their hard work and dedication.
The success of this event has paved the way for it to become an annual fixture, offering more students the opportunity to engage in real-world problem-solving and contribute to their communities.
We look forward to seeing the innovative solutions and passionate young scientists that will emerge from future challenges.
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