On Tuesday 27 June, environmental awareness and sustainability were front and centre as staff members from the worldwide energy company, SLB, met with 30 Year 5/6 students from Fen Drayton Primary School. The project day’s focus was the significance of green energy. The interactive session aimed to inspire young minds, foster a sense of responsibility towards the planet and encourage the adoption of eco-friendly practices. Thank you to Bruntwood for the use of their fantastic meeting space at Melbourn Science Park.
The SLB team set up six interactive stations where the students could participate in practical experiments. Under the guidance of the SLB staff, the eager Year 6 students made their own potato batteries, produced electricity from gravity, built wind turbines, and experimented with kinetic energy to make flying saucers. The experiments also included creating self-inflating balloons and measuring, calculating and comparing the energy consumption of typical household devices.
The students were enthralled by the hands-on activities, asking lots of questions and eagerly seeking further knowledge. After the event, we received overwhelmingly positive feedback and quotes from the students who took part.
“I learnt about energy and energy sources and so much more. I like how the activity stations were all so fun and the people were so nice. Everything was thought out very well. I’m going to work harder in my STEM lessons now.”
Year 6 girl – Fen Drayton Primary School
“I liked the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda experiment. It was fascinating! I think I might like a job in STEM because it was so interesting.“
Year 5 boy – Fen Drayton Primary School
“This is amazing, it is one of the best school trips I’ve ever done. It’s all practical and hands on, every child is doing something constantly.”
Mrs. Hawkins – Teacher from Fen Drayton Primary School
The SLB staff left the school after a day filled with enthusiasm, new knowledge, and a sense of purpose. The students were left with a profound understanding of the importance of green energy and a belief in their ability to make a positive impact on the world.
By empowering and educating young minds, SLB’s team and Cambridge LaunchPad hope to ignite a spark that will drive future generations to lead the way in green energy innovation and conservation.
“We are really pleased to have organised a Cambridge Launchpad event this year. Our team of volunteers spent a lot of time planning and creating the science activities for the day. Seeing the excitement and enjoyment of the children during the hands-on experiments made it all worthwhile. It was fantastic to see how engaged and eager to learn the children were. And we hope to have inspired them to become the future scientists the world needs. All participating SLB scientists and the children have had an amazing and memorable day.“
Isabelle Atheaux – Research Scientist, SLB
