Exploring Balance and Stability through Engineering

This week, the Girls in STEM Club returned to the Discovery Science and Technology Centre to continue their exciting ongoing engineering challenge.  The session focused on exploring the concepts of centre of gravity and the strength and stability of shapes through a series of interactive, hands-on activities that used simple, everyday materials to make learning both fun and engaging.

The girls began by testing their own balance, standing on one foot, with feet together, and then shoulder-width apart, to explore which positions made them feel most stable.  This simple exercise encouraged them to think about balance, weight distribution, and how their own bodies relate to physical forces.  From there, they experimented with empty cans, observing how small changes in weight distribution could alter stability.  By gradually adding small amounts of water, they were able to lower each can’s centre of gravity until it balanced perfectly on an edge, a simple yet powerful demonstration of physics in action that sparked plenty of curiosity and laughter.

Building on these discoveries, the group moved on to tower construction challenges, using different shapes and structures to investigate which designs could reach the greatest height while remaining stable.  The session concluded with a lively rapid prototyping activity, where teams had just five minutes to create the tallest possible tower using only paper cups, a true test of quick thinking, collaboration, and creativity.

The afternoon was a wonderful mix of science, problem-solving, and teamwork, highlighting how engineering principles can be accessible, exciting, and relevant for everyone.