The year 7 & 8 students from Cobden and Paroa Primary schools had lots of insightful questions and got an opportunity to think like engineers while designing balloon rockets. Some thought it would be better to have two balloons and it engendered some fabulous designs and conversations.

The Year 9’s of course took the activity to the next level and it was all about the competition and even the 10th of a second mattered. With an introduction to the concept of rocketry and how the engines are being designed by the Rocket lab using 3D printers.

Taking it up a notch for the NCEA Level 1, 2 & 3 Game Design and Programming students, Eric and Emeline focused on the space industry and career pathways using their own space experience; the International Space Station, working for NASA, -the future of food, robotics and data analysis. Some fascinating imagery of earth from space had everyone enthralled! Eventually we ended the sessions with an open forum for the community and the audience explored the various rocket models and special concrete being designed by the University of Canterbury for landing stations.

We would like to thank Eric and Emeline for the time they spent with the Greymouth learning community and helped us demonstrate what the heart of a learning community looks like in actions. The audience was mostly young and the questions were insightful and kept them both on their feet.