Engineering asks students to explore the key contributions made by engineers to the world around them.
Students will study the various sectors that comprise the engineering industry, and learn about what qualities and skills engineers must possess.
They will study everyday engineering solutions such as bridges, simple machines and bicycles, and engage with the fundamental scientific principles which underpin their design.
They will design and build their own engineering solutions, gaining experience in the engineering design process, which emphasises the importance of research, planning, testing prototypes and refining their designs.
The course will bolster students’ scientific understanding of many of the things they see and use in their everyday lives, and give them a greater appreciation of the skill and creativity that went into their design.
The course straddles the scientific and creative, and will help reinforce learning from elsewhere in the curriculum, especially Science GCSE and the Arts Award.
The three terms of the academic year will broadly correspond with three over-arching themes which will inform the projects they complete: Bridges, Simple Machines, and Pedal Power.
Students study famous bridges around the world, and try to unlock the engineering secrets which make them stand the test of time.
Here, as part of an in-depth study of Scotland's Forth Bridge, students built the apparatus to recreate this famous engineering photo, which captured a living demonstration of the cantilever principle.
The demonstration that was recreated was devised in 1887 by the Forth Bridge engineer Sir Benjamin Baker. He wanted to show that cantilevers were the most effective means of constructing long-span bridges, and demonstrate how the forces of tension (in the arms and anchor ropes) and compression (in the planks and the seated bodies) were balanced within the structure of the bridge.
In the original 19th century photo, the load is represented by Kaichi Watanabe, a Japanese engineer studying under Baker. In our recreation, the load is represented by Cameron, another keen student of bridge building!