Funded by the Chancellor using LIBOR funds RAF 100: Aiming for Awesome celebrates the centenary of the RAF and explores its engineering achievements over the last 100 years. There are 10 resources, each covering a different decade of RAF history. Each resource allows Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils to explore, through hands on activities, the applications of the knowledge they learn in science, design and technology, mathematics and computing.
The aim of this resource is to give students the opportunity to investigate the impact of STEM on radar technology. Students will explore how radar works, investigate different shapes when building towers as well as working in groups to design and build their own radar towers.
Time to demonstrate: through the resource students will understand why radar is important and how it works (reflection). Students can be introduced to the idea of reflection through a simple demonstration by throwing a tennis ball at a wall and catching it on its return. This is how radar works.
Time to investigate: radar systems are on the top of towers so that the signal can travel longer distances without being stopped by land features such as hills. Students will act as engineers, using artstraws to build and test different shapes for radar towers. They will conduct a series of tests to assess the strength of the different shapes, logging their observations in a table and identifying which is strongest and why. Design challenge: through group role play, students will be part of the first response team to Typhoon Haiyan and have been deployed to set up communications. With each team member being assigned a role, they will work together to:
The activities are expected to last 120 minutes.
The following per team:
Resources
Aiming for awesome: Aircraft design investigates the impact of STEM on aircraft design
Aiming for awesome: speed record investigates the STEM behind travelling at speed.
Aiming for Awesome: Ejection seat investigates the STEM involved in designing ejection seats.
Aiming for awesome: Code breaking investigates the impact of STEM on code breaking and security.
Aiming for awesome: Satellite age investigates the STEM behind satellite communications.
Aiming for awesome: Disaster relief
Aiming for awesome: Logistics challenge investigates how the RAF use STEM skills when planning a mission.
Aiming for awesome: Remotely piloted air systems gives students the opportunity to investigate the use of STEM when controlling Remotely Piloted Air Systems.
Aiming for awesome: Stealth investigates the impact of STEM on the development of stealth vehicles.