Visit Kent, in partnership with Reconnect Kent, are delighted to announce the return of the successful Lesson in a Box project which delivers a series of engaging Key Stage 2 lessons to fill the gaps left by the COVID-19 pandemic and reconnect children to their local attractions. The newest ‘Lesson in a Box’ project, entitled ‘Engineers Assemble!’, will focus on engaging children with STEM, transforming children in Years 4 and 5 into professional engineers tasked with solving a hypothetical problem faced by one of Kent’s top visitor attractions.
Bringing Kent into your school
The children in your class are being set an exciting mission by Visit Kent to design a solution to one of Kent's leading attractions problems - it might be a new pulley at the Mining Museum, how to keep a baby bear safe and secure at Port Lympne, or designing new parachutes for pilots at Biggin Hill Memorial Museum!
In groups, children will research, plan, create and test their very own solutions to the problems posed. The 6-lesson module aims to bring excitement, fun and purpose into the classroom, helping children to appreciate their local environment and become mini engineers – thinking outside the box, experimenting and using their knowledge and skills in science, technology and maths to solve real-life problems.
This is best suited to Years 4 and 5 and is centred around the Science and DT curriculum. It is envisaged that each lesson is approximately 1.5 – 2 hours long but each can be adapted and shortened.
- identify some of the most exciting areas in their county and become enthused about where they live
- work collaboratively
- learn about the process engineers go through when solving problems
- be experimental and take ownership of the design and make process.
- be posed problems and not solutions
Lesson plans, resources and materials have been developed in partnership with expert learning teams at these attractions and specialist educational consultants to ensure they meet the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum requirements.
Win a trip for your class!
After you've completed the tasks, take a photo of your inventions and send this in to Visit Kent for a chance to win a trip for your class to one of the participating attractions!
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTO ENTRIES!
Questions:
We would be happy to answer any questions regarding the project. Please email all queries to enquiries@visitkent.co.uk. Please put 'Reconnect Kent' in the subject line.
Our data protection policy can be found here.
Background
In recent Kent resident research, Visit Kent found that 65% of residents felt more connected to their local area as a result of the pandemic. This is reflective of 69% of residents remaining within Kent during summer 2020 due to restrictions and seeking out more open natural spaces. However, the research also showed that 84% of residents had seen their participation in activities reduce and businesses have reported a large reduction in educational visits. This indicates that many children have missed out on activities they would usually take part in either with their families or class so Visit Kent and partners have created these resources to use this increased interest in the local area to reengage young people in learning.
The Reconnect: Kent Children and Young People Programme is supporting children and young people across the county to reconnect to their pre-pandemic lives, by providing additional activities, opportunities and support. In Summer 2021, Reconnect delivered a hugely successful summer programme which included young persons bus passes, a leisure centre offer, additional learning opportunities, and local activities and events.
Visit Kent Ltd is the Destination Management Organisation for Kent (the Garden of England), welcoming 66.5 million visitors a year, championing the county’s £4.1 billion tourism industry, and supporting more than 81,000 jobs. It is recognised as one of the country’s leading DMOs, targeting UK and overseas markets to raise Kent’s profile as a premier destination, improving quality and skills within the industry, and growing investment in tourism. Visit Kent is a public/private sector partnership supported by Kent County Council, Medway Council, district and borough councils, and the leading sector tourism businesses in Kent.
For further information visit www.visitkent.co.uk (consumer) or www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk (business), or tweet @visitkent.
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