Year 5 and 6 pupils participated in Bring It On North East's virtual event last week, with the theme of 'Net Zero North East – Engineering Your Future', coinciding with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Our children were set three different challenges from North East companies including Nexus, City Fibre and Komatsu. Pupils had to choose a challenge to complete throughout the day and created posters and presentations to answer questions such as 'what can Nexus do to make their network more sustainable?' and 'how can the Internet of Things be used to make our homes or schools more energy-efficient?'.
Pupils had the added benefit of support from engineer, Richard Clements, who worked alongside our children and helped the development of their ideas.
Connor said: “Our idea was to use the ‘Internet of Things’ to create a bin that sorts waste into recyclable and non-recyclable materials so that less rubbish goes to landfill.”
Ethan added: “We also discussed using the ‘Internet of Things’ to create sensors on bins so they are only collected when full – ensuring that bin lorries don’t make unnecessary journeys. This would reduce emissions from these vehicles.”