Graphics Tournament
6th February 2023
The technology tournament is hosted by the rotary club and is held each year for students to have a go at designing a certain project. This time we had to design and build a bridge that let barges pass through underneath it but still hold up to 1kg weight. We also had to create a portfolio discussing how we created the design and why we chose certain features. We started by coming up with four designs that were applicable to the briefing and then started to discuss as a team how we would create each one and the pros and cons of each idea. We ended up creating a final design incorporating all the liked aspects of each and then started to build. First two of us created columns to hold up the bridge while the other two created the portfolio and the base for a strong bridge (secured with a combination of layers and card). We then worked on finding a way to hold the bridge up and also incorporate a pulley system to move a section of bridge up and down allowing a boat to move through. Hole punching the bridge to pass string through them and the columns allowed the pulley system to be incorporated into the design whilst also making the lift simultaneous. Once we were done we did some final testing before it was judged.
What is the tournament about?
Challenges we faced and overcame
During the tournament as a group we had to overcome challenges like a short time limit to create a portfolio for our bridge as well as a racing time limit to complete the actual project. On top of that we also had to make our bridge according to the many rules that we were not allowed to know before the competition. Examples of the rules are that the bridge needs to be able to withstand 1kg, and be able to open up letting boats pass through. But under all the pressure we managed to make our bridge up to the judges standards; mostly by effectively communicating as a team and executing our initial ideas. As a result our team team took first place in our category (intermediate) and on top of that our school also winning best portfolio out of the many schools attending the event.
Conclusion
Overall this competition was challenging but a really fun experience as all of our team worked together to create a bridge that fit all of the many requirements. As well as winning the intermediate challenge our school also won the best portfolio award too. This achievement meant that overall we won half of the prizes awarded.
The year 10 team consisted of: