Glasgow Science Festival - Creating Engineers Overview
The contest gives P5 & 6 pupils a chance to demonstrate their creativity, design and build skills by solving set engineering challenges using the construction set K'Nex. Working in teams of two, pupils will compete against fellow pupils in order to progress through the stages of the competition to be in with a chance of becoming the 'Creating Engineers Champions'.
All information about taking part in the competition can be found below.
Timeline
Application
Applications usually open during the Autumn.
Classroom Challenge
Take place between February - March for most schools.
Cluster Challenge
Takes place as suits participating schools. Ahead of GSF set deadline.
Grand Final
The Creating Engineers grand final takes place during the festival in June.
Entering the Contest
Applications to the competition are made as a school cluster. Primary schools host the Classroom Challenge and the secondary school host the Cluster Challenge for their primary schools. Only only one application per cluster should be submitted, with a nominated 'cluster contact' appointed. The cluster contact will liaise with the GSF team and will receive any relevant communication from the GSF team.
Please note that not all schools in the cluster need to participate in order for the cluster to apply, however we are unable to accept entries with only 1 school.
Teams must be made up of two pupils only and can consist of P5 pupils, P6 pupils or a mix of the two. It is up to each participating school who they want to involve in the competition. It is also up to the cluster to decide how many classes will participate, traditionally all classroom winners participate in the cluster challenge but some clusters may prefer one team from each primary school is selected. This will need to be decided prior to entry as it may affect how many Classroom Challenges the cluster can run.
Applications will open during the Autumn, dates TBC.
Stage 1: The Classroom Challenge
Once your cluster has entered you are free to arrange the Classroom Challenge. The cluster contact will co-ordinate and decide how many P5 and/or P6 classes participate in this stage of the challenge.
The classroom challenge is chosen and set by the teachers. All the resources including judging criteria, certificates and some example challenges can be found in the Classroom Challenge Pack.
Creating Engineers Classroom Challenge Pack
There are also two classroom challenges in our 'Previous Creating Engineers' section that were set as part of the digital offering for GSF 2021 and GSF 2022.
Practicing for the Classroom Challenge
Before you hold your Classroom Challenge we recommend holding a practice session with the pupils. Use the worksheets below to gain a working knowledge of the K'nex pieces and the different ways they can be used.
Whilst the above worksheets will be very useful for the intial stages in the competition, as the winning teams progress through the competition, each level will present a tougher challenge. To prepare the pupils for this progression it would be a good idea to explore / practice the following:
- Pulley systems
- Steering mechanisms
- Use of handles
- Gears
As the pupils progress throught the stages of the competition, there will be at least one of the elements above in each challenge.
Another useful resource for designing a Classroom Challenge, or practicing different techniques is the K'nex user group which provides access to 125 K'nex challenges.
Creating Engineers Kit Loan
If your school doesn't have access to K'Nex Kits to run your Classroom and Cluster Challenges, Glasgow Science Festival have a class-worth of kits available for short term loan (allocated according to availability). These can be offered for a two week block per school/cluster, with pick up and drop off from the University of Glasgow. The kits are loaned on a first come first served basis.
If you need to borrow kits, please contact sciencefestival@glasgow.ac.uk
Next Stage
The next stage of the GSF Creating Engineers challenge is the Cluster Challenge. This will be hosted by the secondary school, it is up to each individual cluster if all classroom winners participate in this challenge or if one team is selected per primary school.
Stage 2: The Cluster Challenge
In the second stage the winning team/s from each school progress to compete against other winning team/s from schools in their cluster. It is up to you as a cluster to choose whether each classroom winner competes in the Cluster Challenge, or if it is one team per primary school.
The challenge is set by Glasgow Science Festival with all the reources including the challenge, judging criteria and certificates contained in the Cluster Challenge Pack. The challenge used for 2023 is below as an example.
Creating Engineers 2023 Cluster Challenge Pack
Once your Cluster Challenge has taken place please submit the details of your winners through the online form to ensure they are registered for the next stage. Deadline to submit is TBC to ensure your clusters place in the final.
If your cluster has 6 or more primary schools participating both the Cluster Challenge winners and runners up will be invited to take part in the next stage.
Cluster winner submission will open when the competition is launched.
Creating Engineers Kit Loan
If your school doesn't have access to K'Nex Kits to run your Classroom and Cluster Challenges, Glasgow Science Festival have a class-worth of kits available for short term loan (allocated according to availability). These can be offered for a two week block per school/cluster with pick up and drop off from the University of Glasgow. The kits are loaned on a first come first served basis.
If you need to borrow kits, please contact sciencefestival@glasgow.ac.uk
Next Stage
Once you have held your Cluster Challenge and submitted the winners information through the online form a member of the GSF team will be in touch with the winning schools named primary school contact regarding information about the next stage.
Stage 3: The Semi-Final
Please note that we did not hold regional finals in 2023 due to operating the competition with a smaller cohort of clusters/ schools. Instead, moving straight to the Grand Final in June.
Details of if/when these take place in 2024 will be communicated to participating schools.
Stage 4: The Grand Final
For the final stage, the teams are invited to compete against each other to determine who will be this years Creating Engineers Champions! The final will takes place during the Glasgow Science Festival in person programme in June.
The challenge is set by Glasgow Science Festival and gets revealed to all contestants on the day.
Specific information about venue and timings will be shared with the Named Primary Contacts of the school pupils who will be competing.
Location: University of Glasgow
