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Girls use STEM to address social equity

Molly Greenhalgh and Olivia El Daghl

In the Junior School, Meriden girls have been thinking about how the world can be made more accessible to people with diverse needs and abilities. Year 3 students have enjoyed learning to read and write Braille and Morse Code and have utilised the School’s 3D printers to manufacture Braille signs for people with visual impairments.

In a project that saw a convergence of Human Society and its Environment and STEM, girls reflected on the positive impacts Braille and Morse Code have had on society and concluded that by increasing the number of Braille signs in the community, they could make it a more equitable place.

Olivia El Daghl said she enjoyed using her critical thinking skills to undertake the research component of the project.

“We had to think about the best material to use and consider something that would remain strong in the sun, wind and rain,” Olivia said.

“We were excited to settle on plastic as the best option because we could then use the School’s 3D printers to manufacture our signs.”

Molly Greenhalgh said it was helpful to be able to work in pairs to undertake this project.

“First, we created 3D models on the iPads. We went through a few rounds of editing to make improvements; our second printing attempt was much better than the first,” Molly said.

Olivia said the girls in the class learned rapidly, thanks to the practicality of the assignment.

“It was fun to see our designs come to life, from the idea to the digital design and then watching the printing happen in the STEM Lab. It was exciting to learn about new ways to communicate information and to build important skills that can be used to include more people in our community.”

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