Fran Ward explains about STEM

DUCK was on the menu for the first time at the weekly meeting of The Rotary Club of Furness.
And members did not complain even though what was dished out proved hard to get their teeth into!
For the aquatic bird was actually part of a practical exercise given by guest speaker Fran Ward of the Cumbria hub of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
Rotarians were handed the same individual packs of lego pieces and asked to create a duck - with some weird and wonderful results.
Fran also impressed the audience by revealing that six identical blocks of lego can produce a conservative figure of 915 million different models.
The meeting heard that although STEM in Cumbria was a relatively small operation - centred in a farmhouse near Crooklands - it is the highest performing hub in the country.
He said they worked in primary and secondary schools as well as industry and were indebted to the support from STEM ambassadors in the area.
Fran said Lego featured heavily in their teaching with the emphasis on developing motor skills, thinking 'outside the box' and problem solving. The build-a-duck exercise one example of learning through play.
He quoted George Bernard Shaw: "We don't stop playing because we grow old: we grow old because we stop playing".
Fran said the first Lego League was now a worldwide competition with Cumbrian entries increasing in five years from seven to 75, the highest in the UK and Ireland. As well as building robots, there are themes like City Shaper where teams identify and try to solve community issues.
Two Furness schools, St Bernards and Victoria Academy, have reached the national finals in Bristol and also been invited to a tour of the robotics department at the prestigious Jesus College, Oxford.
A vote of thanks was given by club President Brian Boyd, himself a Stem ambassador. He said that youngsters often get a bad press but initiatives like this - and Rotary's own Technology Tournament - brought out the best in them.
The meeting was held at Rotarian Peter Gardner's Chetwynde Hotel. 

Reported by Rotarian Graham Dixon