Youngsters from five North Tyneside primary schools have been working with water industry experts at Northumbrian Water to tackle real world challenges as part of a national competition.
The day of activity at the company’s training facilities in Pity Me was part of the First Lego League 2017/2018 Challenge.
Around 40 children took part in the Hydro Dynamics activities, from four Wallsend schools, Richardson Dees Primary School, St Columba’s RC Primary School, Carville Primary School and Denbigh Community Primary School, as well as St Stephen’s RC Primary School, in Longbenton.
Workshops in laboratory work, wastewater, water, taste and engineering took place as part of the day and the children learned about the work of the global charity WaterAid, of which Northumbrian Water was a founding partner.
They were also able to take part in a special question and answer session with Northumbrian Water’s very own talking watercooler.
First Lego League is a global science and technology competition with over 250,000 young people taking part each year.
Sophie Pickup, Learning and Development Manager at Northumbrian Water, said: “At Northumbrian Water, we are very passionate about helping young people to learn about water and all of the other things that we do. The First Lego League is a fantastic way of helping children to learn about a wide range of STEM-related subjects.
“It was great to have these young people with us for the day. We want children to gain a better understanding and become excited about what we do, because they are our customers – and possibly our employees – of the future.”
Neil Brown, School Improvement Advisor at North Tyneside Council, said: “It was fantastic for the children to find out about water, because it is such a valuable resource. This was a great way to get the pupils engaged in such an important subject and has filled them with enthusiasm, as well as giving them a real insight into how people in other parts of the world cope without water, and how charities like WaterAid work to help them.”