Official launch of 3M Young Innovator Scheme
THE 2018 3M Young Innovators Challenge has officially been launched, with teachers from all over the local area turning out to find out more about this year’s scheme.
The launch event was hosted by 3M at its Morley Street, Loughborough, base and gave schools from Charnwood, North West Leicestershire and Rushcliffe the opportunity to hear about this year’s challenges and how they can benefit the children they teach.
It is supported by the Loughborough Echo, the Loughborough Learning Alliance and the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) College in Loughborough.
As well as offering equipment worth £750 for the winning schools and prizes for the students, 3M also funds entry into the CREST Award scheme, managed by the British Science Association, for all challenge entrants.
More than 480 students from 36 schools entered last year’s 3M Young Innovators Challenge scheme.
“We had great feedback from the schools who took part in 2017 and we are hoping they will all be entering again this year,” said 3M reputation communications manager Rosalind Smith.
“With the added inspiration of the Year of Engineering, there are outstanding learning opportunities and great prizes for the children and schools to win.”
Of this year’s three categories for primary schools, two are new engineering-themed competitions – a Cargo Carrier Challenge to build a floating vessel with a light construction that can carry up to 5kg in cargo; and a Slo-Mo Marble Challenge to design a marble run that maximises the time taken by a standard glass ball to roll from the top to the bottom.
A third primary school category – that proved highly popular last year – is an Eco Tech Challenge based on the science of sound. Children are asked to construct a functioning musical instrument made entirely from recycled materials.
There are also three categories for secondary school students. These include the Tower Tech Challenge, which was first developed last year with lecturers in civil and building engineering at Loughborough University. Students are tasked with building the tallest, most slender tower with the best strength to weight ratio.
Another secondary school category is the Eco Tech Challenge, developed with the RNIB College. In this, the students have to use recycled or sustainable materials to construct a sensory toy, a product to make sports activity more accessible or an everyday task easier for a blind or partially-sighted young person.
The final category is the Science Detectives Challenge in which budding CSI investigators have to use a combination of forensic observation, analytical chemistry, social media analysis and suspect profiling to solve the mysterious death of an arctic survey scientist in Iceland.
Places on the Science Detectives Challenge are always in high demand and its closing date for entry forms is January 23. Entries for all the other categories must be in by March 23, with judging taking place during April and May.
Full details of how to enter the 3M Young Innovators Challenge, which is also open to home-educated children, can be found at www.3M.co. uk/younginnovators