Posted on Wednesday 13 Jul 2011
Williams F1 has hosted the inaugural Techlink Race to Learn Challenge at its headquarters in Grove. The event marked a key development in the company’s Spark programme which promotes education, energy efficiency and road safety initiatives across the world.
In September last year, organisers of the Techlink Race to Learn Challenge set groups of nine to 11 year olds from schools in Bath and the surrounding areas the task of designing and building compressed-air-powered paper cars. On Monday, on a purpose-built track at the Williams F1 Conference Centre, the children’s work was put to the test as twenty four person teams raced their models in a series of speed heats to determine the winner of the Challenge. The ‘Flying Flames’ from St Saviour’s Primary School in Bath were crowned overall winners for 2011.
Created by Williams F1 in association with Cambridge University Press, Race to Learn is an award-winning interactive software programme used by teachers to enhance learning experiences. Using the example of Formula One to promote teamwork and teach group working skills across a wide range of subjects, including maths, science, literacy and geography, Race to Learn is a tried and tested learning tool for key stage two pupils.
Applied in the Techlink Challenge, Race to Learn provided supportive learning sessions to assist the children involved in the T1 project. To encourage the budding engineers to pursue further studies in STEM subjects after today’s event, the children also had an audience with Williams personnel to talk about the experience of working in Formula One and were given a tour of the team’s museum to conclude the day.
Case studies on the success and implementation of Race to Learn can be found at http://www.racetolearn.org/home/case-study. Teachers can also contact rtl@williamsf1.com for further information.
Techlink Project
The original focus of the Techlink Project was the establishment of CAD/CAM expertise to primary schools via partner secondary schools. Today the network has over 650 partner primary and secondary schools and Techlink continues to be at the forefront of innovation in the STEM classroom. The Techlink Project Pack has been the focus for CAD/CAM work and was made possible by sponsorship from the Medlock Trust. For more information on Techlink please visit http://www.techlinkinschools.com/?page_id=2
Credit: Williams F1 (www.williamsf1.com)
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