A group of students from Year 7 visited the RAF Museum at Cosford to take part in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Launch Day. This was the first event of a yearlong combined STEM and History project called RAF-100 that will commemorate the centenary of the formation of the Royal Air Force and  inspire interest in engineering opportunities.

The students spent a day in the museum completing a series of challenges and activities linked to the work of the RAF. They built and launched two types of rocket, which they manufactured and tested the strength of the rivets that are used to hold aircraft together and used ultrasound apparatus to identify cracks and faults in materials. They also designed, built and tested parachutes and investigated different smart materials.

Students were then taught how to use two different programming and coding methods. Five of the students were awarded medals for successfully programming an EV3 Lego RAF model plane that negotiated a course and landed on the RAF target logo.

Between activities, students contributed to the colouring wall along one side of the hangar. At the end of the day, students had time to look around the other hangars in the museum, where aircraft and other vehicles were on display.

Louise Oliver said ‘This was a fantastic event that gave the students a real taste of different real-life technological and engineering applications. They were lucky enough to use actual RAF equipment, such as the ultrasound scanners and the rivet testing equipment that is used to test commercial and military aircraft. It stimulated their interest and they all thoroughly enjoyed every activity.

‘The RAF team were great, helping the students and explaining the science behind the different technologies.’