South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 10/06/2015

A number of South Gloucestershire schools have been visiting the Bloodhound Technical Centre in Avonmouth this month to sample a series of educational workshops.

Pupils from local schools including Blackhorse Primary, Almondsbury Primary and Brimsham Green each spent a half day at the centre to take part in a number of taster educational workshops that incorporate science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Around 20 pupils from years 3 to 6 at Blackhorse Primary School visited the centre on Friday 22 May, where the morning began with a tour and explore of the Bloodhound supersonic car which is currently under construction at the centre. The pupils were excited to see the EJ200 jet engine and other main components of the actual Bloodhound car which will attempt to reach 1000mph in 2016. They also got to meet Bloodhound’s build team and technicians from the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Army’s Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME) working on the project, and hear some of the extreme facts and figures involved in the ambitious world record attempt.

The pupils then took part in a model rocket car workshop where they worked in pairs to design and build miniature race cars from foam blocks which they shaped and refined before going out to the test track area to race them. They learned about chassis design, team work and time keeping with the Bloodhound team using physics, engineering and mathematics to help them understand the science behind what the cars could achieve.

Sonya Lalli who is in year 6 at Blackhorse Primary School said: “I really liked making the rocket cars and watching how each reacted because of how they are shaped. I’m thinking of becoming a chemical engineer when I’m older.”

Mark Truman in year 3 said: “I have really enjoyed the day. It was great to see how the engineers are working to fit all of the parts of the Bloodhound car together. It was also great fun to see the video of the Bloodhound car racing against a jet plane.”

South Gloucestershire Council’s Children and Young People Committee Chair Cllr Jon Hunt said: “We need to find ways to inspire today’s young people so they want to become the engineers of the future and meet the skills required for our hi-tech and aerospace industries here in South Gloucestershire. This project really captures pupil’s imagination and by using science, technology, engineering and maths skills to analyse the results of experiments they are learning valuable skills too.”

Rob Bennett from Bloodhound said: “The Bloodhound Project is unique when compared to other engineering ventures in that all the information about the research, design, build and testing of the car is freely available to teachers and students, and anyone else that wishes to visit our website. We want children and young people all over the world to get involved, set their own race times and get inspired by this one-off global research and development programme.”

Bloodhound’s primary aim is to inspire a generation by creating a unique, high-technology project, focused around a 1000mph world land speed record attempt. The Bloodhound team are sharing this engineering adventure with a global audience and hope to inspire the next generation by bringing science, technology, engineering and mathematics to life in the most exciting way possible.

Bloodhound Blast is a free online community full of national curriculum educational resources that users can pick and choose whatever they wish to use. Take part at www.bloodhoundssc.com/education

A further series of school visits are planned to take place in June.