S2 STEM

100 S2 pupils have had the opportunity to attend the RAF, Royal Navy, BAE Systems Roadshow.

This year’s roadshow is designed to enlighten students about the importance of control systems and computer technology in all aspects of present day life, helping them see the connection between what they study in school and the day to day applications in the real world. Learning how computers work and how to programme computers is now recognised as one of the key skills for life.

Part one takes a close look at drones. As well as a practical demonstration with a drone, students learned about the dangers of hacking and the work that computer scientists and programmers do to keep our computer systems safe.

The second part of the show focuses on how computers work and the students were engaged in some practical activities to help them understand how the binary system works and also how computers spot an error. A wonderful ‘magic’ demonstration brings to life just how clever computers are at processing information.

The final part of the performance featured a 70cm high android robot that showed just how advanced robotics can be. This talking, dancing , sensing, ‘thinking' robot has features that are present in many of the products that BAE Systems manufacture. For example, the gyroscope in the robot is very similar to the gyroscope that can be found in fast jets to help them keep level, or the ships that they build to keep them stable in rough seas.