THE Science Faculty at Court Fields School, Wellington, organised a STEM day to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

The theme was based around the variety of science used in and around Hinkley Point Nuclear power station. The day started with information about careers at EDF and apprenticeships available at Hinkley Point.

The focus was then placed on explaining how a nuclear reactor works and the importance of safety when transporting the uranium fuel rods.

Students were set the task of designing a vehicle that would be launched using a high pressure air pump. The vehicle would carry an egg and the task was to ensure that the design of the vehicle protected the egg and allowed it to travel the furthest. The designs had to be constructed following strict criteria, including a budget. Working in groups of five, students spent two hours designing, building and testing their vehicles with rubber eggs.

In the afternoon the competition began with the groups firing their rockets across the sports hall with boiled eggs as cargo. The competition was close with a few points separating the top five vehicles but only the top three made it to the final, with the raw egg.

All the finalists presented their work and answered questions about their designs. In the final, group 4 took a commanding lead sending their egg safely over 15 metres. The other groups never caught up but did have safe landings for their cargo.

The champions were awarded their prize and all the eggs got home safely.