Designing for the Wild: the Colchester Zoo STEM Challenge

19 Jul

Year 4 at St Lawrence have been busy proving exactly what it means to be Agents of Change through the project “Make Something That Solves a Problem” and what an exciting challenge it turned out to be.

The class took part in Colchester Zoo’s first ever STEM competition, where they were tasked with designing brand new animal enclosures for giraffes and rhinos. This wasn’t just a fun DT project, it was a real design challenge that required teamwork, creativity and careful thinking.

The children learned all about designing for different users, including the animals themselves, the zoo keepers, and the visitors. They had to consider safety, comfort, space, enrichment and practicality, making sure their enclosure designs met everyone’s needs. They researched, refined and improved their ideas before creating final models that looked absolutely incredible.

To complete their entries, each group created a showcase video explaining their design choices, just like real designers pitching an idea to professionals. Their videos were sent off to Colchester Zoo, and everyone had their fingers crossed.

Then came the exciting news. One of the groups was announced as runners up in their category.

This is an amazing achievement and a huge moment of pride for the children. It shows what can happen when pupils are given a real-world problem and encouraged to think creatively to solve it.

A massive congratulations to Year 4 for their hard work, brilliant designs and determination. They should feel incredibly proud.