Mars mission for 250 pupils
5 July 2019
More than 250 students from schools across south-east Wales planned a mission to Mars as part of a major two-day University STEM outreach event.
STEMLive featured Year 8 students from 14 schools in a wide range of hands-on activities led by researchers from the University and hosts National Museum Wales.
Students investigated problems that humans could face living on Mars such as how to generate electricity, where to live and how to stay healthy.
The Mars mission was brought to life by actors from Yello brick productions who encouraged creativity and learning among the students.
Feedback from teachers was extremely positive with the event described as inspiring for pupils and a fantastic way to bring STEM to life outside the classroom.
Deborah Syrop, University STEMLIve coordinator, said: “We created STEMLive to demonstrate the enormous breadth of careers that result from studying science and maths subjects.
“Using Mars as the theme allows the students to start from scratch when generating ideas. However these are all challenges we face here on Earth, and are issues their generation will need to think about.
“STEM careers are very collaborative and require many different people with different specialisms to work together. The skills that come from studying STEM subjects are highly valuable and transferable.”
