Since 2020 students from ARA have participated in different Crest Award projects, with four silver awards achieved to students from year 10, and 8 Discovery awards obtained for pupils from year 6 and 7.

The science department has also been in contact with STEM ambassadors who volunteer by sharing advice, experience, and enthusiasm in their fields of study to students from ARA.

Additionally, projects undertaken by year 10 students have been made with help from professional scientists to assist in investigations using remote sensing for tracking glacier motion and climate change, and spectrographic analyses of Infrared waves from satellite telescopes to track different stages of star evolution. ARA science department offer these enrichment experiences to enhance and promote interest in science while enjoying the company of peers and supervision in a safe environment.

More recently, year 8 students John Jaffar, Ahmed Osman, Abdul Mohammadzai, Robin Thapa, Nathaniel Bonsu, and Ismael el Asrami, worked throughout summer and autumn half term in the project  entitled  ‘Aerodynamic Rocket Design’.

The challenge consisted in the design and launching of a model rocket able to fly to the highest altitude possible and remain o flight for longest before landing on the field.  In their study, they considered factors in their design that may affect the stability of the flight.

Results

The young investigators constructed models with different wing sizes and number of wings, rocket body sizes, nose shapes and additional weights before launching in took place by end of July. The test flights were made in the school’s basketball field. We found that rockets that best fit to fly tend to have long wings, a sturdy nose with a light weight to keep the flight stable, and right proportion of water fuel relative to the volume of the rocket body.

A detailed description of their project results was reported and submitted for CREST Bronze Award. The acknowledgement of this study will give them a certified passport that is evidence of peer-reviewed scientific project work. This can be used later on as reference of wider academic work for applying to study at colleges or universities once they finish school. We wish them all the success in their entry!