The Ultimate STEM Challenge
The Ultimate STEM Challenge
We are asking students across the UK to take on the Ultimate STEM
Challenge and win some fantastic prizes for their school!
We’re looking for students aged 11 to 14 to put their STEM skills to the test
and tackle some real-life problems to address an important global issue.
Working in teams between two and four, all you need to do is create a science
or engineering project on one of three exciting challenge areas.
The Prizes
There are some fantastic prizes to be won including:
• A celebratory event at the Science Museum
• £500 for your school
• Lots of Science Museum goodies.
Increasing efficiency: getting
more from less
Science and technology enable human beings to achieve many things,
including creating the products that make up the world we enjoy today – and
those that will shape our future.
All this needs energy: energy to extract raw materials, energy to process
and manufacture them, and often, energy to use them.
Energy demand is ever increasing, which means it is important to find ways
to use less energy where we can and get more from the energy we use.
This means being more efficient.
Efficiency: getting more from less
• Can you explain what ‘efficiency’ means?
• Can you think of some examples of where products or activities are
becoming more energy efficient?
• Can you think of any products or activities that still need to become
much more energy efficient?
About BP
BP is one of the world's leading
international oil and gas companies.
Increasing efficiency
at BP
BP is constantly seeking new ways of
increasing their energy efficiency to get
more from less – from keeping cool in
the office to smooth travel across
oceans
BP case studies
The following case studies show real-life examples of BP
working to reduce their energy usage in a range of different
situations.
In all of these cases, BP scientists have to use STEM to
address the challenge of increasing efficiency.
Trim Turbines
BP Auwahi Wind farm - Hawaii
•BP has a wind farm in Hawaii that’s
on top of a volcano!
•It can be very windy up there, which
is helpful for powering wind turbines
•Just 8 of these turbines will make
enough energy to power 10,000
homes
Streamlined Ships
BP’s Very Large Crude Carriers
(VLCC)
• VLCC’s are the largest oil tankers on
the planet
•BP’s British Vantage VLCC tanker is
331m long – that’s bigger than the
Eiffel Tower!
•These oil tankers make trips from
Venezuela all the way to China a
15,881 mile journey which takes 44
days!
Getting more from less:
Streamlined Ships
Bulbous bow
Getting more from less:
Streamlined Ships
Blue Whale
Better Buildings
BP ICBT – Sunbury UK
• Keeping a building cool in the summer
and warm in the winter uses a lot of
energy
• BP’s International Centre for Business
and Technology was designed to
naturally circulate air, reducing the need
for artificial heating and cooling
•This means over 50% less energy is
used which means saving £32,580 a
year on fuel costs
Getting more from less:
Better Buildings
Living roofs
The Ultimate STEM Challenge
Now get ready to choose your challenge.
Each challenge will put your STEM skills to the test as you
tackle some real-life problems to address important global
issues.
Remember – each team can only choose one!
Streamlined
Ships
BP Shipping transports oil, liquid
natural gas and other products
around the world. Efficient ships
use less fuel, allowing BP Shipping
to minimise its environmental
impact.
Do an investigation to find the most efficient design for a
large tanker.
Trim
Turbines
BP operates 13 wind farms in the U.S.
and invests in 13 others – together they
generate enough renewable electricity to
power about 500,000 homes. More
efficient wind turbines can increase the
amount of power each of them produces,
helping to tackle climate change.
Do an investigation to find out how to make a wind
turbine more efficient.
Better
Buildings
BP uses innovative ways to increase
energy efficiency in some of its
buildings.
One major way that buildings use up
energy is through air conditioning and
central heating.
Do an investigation to design and test energy efficient ways of
keeping a building cool in summer OR warm in winter.
How to enter
Working in groups of 2, 3 or 4:
• Choose your challenge
• Create a PowerPoint presentation or
• Create a YouTube video showing how you approached your experiment
Your teacher will register on the BP Educational Service website and
submit your entry by 15 January 2016
Judges’ criteria
We are looking for the following:
• Excellence of method – have you followed a sound scientific method?
• Communication skills – can you explain your work clearly, confidently and in a
way that inspires others?
• Passion for STEM – does your enthusiasm shine through?
Sound scientific method
To follow a good scientific method you should:
• make a hypothesis
• do your research
• make sure your experiment is a fair test
• can you replicate your results?
• analyse your results
• present your evidence and explain your conclusion clearly.
To find out more about following a sound scientific method, watch
our InvestiGATE videos.
Create a winning video
Your video should be no longer than 3 minutes.
Remember the following:
• Speak clearly.
• Think of your audience – don’t waffle!
• Don’t just talk – show us what you’ve been up to.
• Introduce yourselves, your school and what inspired you to tackle the challenge.
• Remember copyright – don’t include anything that you didn’t create yourself, so no
music or photos taken from the internet.
• Practice – do a practice run through, checking light and sound.
• Watch out for time – plan what you’re going to say and who is going to say it.
Tip: You don’t have to use a professional video camera to make a film – you could just
use someone’s phone.
Create a winning PowerPoint
Your presentation should be no longer than 20 slides.
Remember to:
• Write clearly – check your spelling and grammar.
• Think of your audience – don’t waffle!
• Include lots of pictures to show us what you’ve been up to.
• Introduce yourselves and your school and what inspired you to tackle the challenge.
• Remember copyright – don’t include anything that you didn’t create yourself, so no
photos or video clips taken from the internet.
Tip: Presentations must be in PowerPoint – any version is fine. They should be no more
than 10MB to ensure that they upload easily.
Good luck!
To find out more about the
Ultimate STEM Challenge visit
www.bp.com/ultimatestemchallenge