Minty fresh ideas make Lichfield school a winner
17/09/2007
"Our children relished the challenge posed by NESTA: it provided an open-ended opportunity for them to use their creativity and imaginations, without the constraints set by most competitions."
Open to teams of children aged between seven and fourteen, the competition gave entrants two months in which to come up with ideas for turning a profit from their seeds. The competition was designed to educate them on the science behind growing a plant from seed, as well as teaching them valuable entrepreneurial skills.
The winning team – 'Willows Minternational' – held brainstorms and conducted market research to come up with their fresh ideas, which made them a grand total of £626.63. To get started they used the profit from selling toast with a home-made minty topping to buy the materials they needed to make a wider assortment of mint-themed products and host events.
Activities included: making and selling mint scented pens, bangles and hair braids, mint decorated stationary, and mint flavoured drinks, sweets and cakes at the school's summer fair and in the local garden centre; selling 'minty toast' at break time; running a colouring competition; and holding a 'Mint Madness' day where all children in school paid to dress in green.
For their efforts, the team received £1,000 worth of garden vouchers from NESTA which it will spend on creating a lively 'creative thinking' zone in one of the school's courtyards.
Commenting on their success, Rachel Joint, the teacher at Willows Primary School who ran the competition, said:
"Our children relished the challenge posed by NESTA: it provided an open-ended opportunity for them to use their creativity and imaginations, without the constraints set by most competitions. We are very proud of their brave ideas and determination to see their plans through. The lessons learned through this project will not be forgotten in a hurry. This is what learning should be about – full of memorable moments!"
The runners-up, who'll receive £250 of vouchers, were: 'Queens Mints' from Queens College, North London; The Science & Engineering Club from Hagley Catholic High School, Worcestershire; Class P1 from Weatherfield School, Bedfordshire; and Team Ladybridge from Ladybridge Primary School in Bolton. Innocent Drinks donated a supply of smoothies to five additional teams because of the high quality of entries.
Katie Walsh, head of Planet Science, NESTA's online resource designed to support and improve science education, said:
"This competition was designed to make science both practical and engaging, as well as helping to develop the kind of entrepreneurial attitudes recognised as being increasingly important for the next generation. The winning teams prove just how creative kids can be and it's critical we harness this moving forward".
For further information, please contact the NESTA press office on 0207 438 2643.
NESTA
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. With endowed funds of over £300 million, our mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We do this in three main ways: by working to build a more pervasive culture of innovation in this country; by providing innovators with access to early stage capital; and by driving forward research into innovation, with a view to influencing policy.
Planet Science
NESTA's Planet Science is a free popular online resource and newsletter for school students of science and their parents and teachers. It's a mix of interactive features, games and teachers materials designed to engage and inspire, and a free weekly e-newsletter to keep in touch with its audience.