30.07.2021Paper Plane 2021 – Competition Winner!
Last month saw the culmination of the AEON 2021 Paper Plane competition. We are thrilled to say we were inundated with competition entries, each one had its own unique touch, and they were a joy to look through! After lots of consideration we finally appointed a winner on 14th June 2021 via AEON social media.
The motivation to hold the paper plane competition was to encourage kids to enjoy science, to think about the mechanics that make a great paper plane, and concentrate on a practical task.
The REFINE Project
From our involvement in the REFINE project with the University of Manchester, we have seen figures of kids interested in STEM is on the decline. A further survey and series of interviews conducted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology has found that interest in science has fallen 10% among 9-12-year-olds in the past four years.
It saddens us to hear these findings, especially as we understand the importance of science and engineering to the future generations. and felt this competition was a great opportunity to bring a little excitement back.
13% of girls surveyed said that they would consider working in engineering, and 11% said that they would consider working in technology.
It’s crucial that schools engage children in STEM at a young age
David Lakin, IET head of education
Entrants
With the difficulties faced to the education sector over the last year we wanted to allow kids the opportunity to get involved in a fun and exciting competition out of school hours that required very little resources.
We were thrilled to see the entries, not only does that fill us with pride that kids are enjoying the competition, but it also helps them focus their energies into a productive task.
We loved the imagination behind the colours, especially the control room, gazing out to space and seeing the happy face on the astronaut – we’d be feeling the same if we were floating in space! Some even shared videos flying their planes, and we were SO impressed, there’s nothing quite like building your paper aeroplane and seeing it fly!
We have a winner!
The well-deserved winner was Anoushka F! Perfect colouring, excellent design and real time photo skills sealed the deal! Well done!
Sending a huge thank you to all those who entered our competition, we hope you had as much fun making them as we did judging them!
