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Wellington students excel at Skills Manitoba challenge

May 5, 2022 News Story
Skills Manitoba Challenge - Wellington School student Michaella

A group of students at Wellington School recently made a strong showing in a Skills Manitoba challenge.

Wellington teacher Sarah Lenhardt Mair had originally been working with her Grade 1 / 2 students on a Lego design project to learn about position and motion in science. This first Lego project saw students creating cars that had to roll down a ramp; students observed and recorded how far the vehicles could travel.

Shortly after the class completed their project, Skills Manitoba released its own design challenge using Lego cars. This inspired a second project, in which Wellington students used the wind to power their Lego cars.

"Students were excited to research wind powered Lego cars, look at different sail styles and experiment with building. We looked through the different requirements/criteria and each area gave us certain amounts of points," Lenhardt Mair said. "We spent a week researching, planning, building, and testing our cars.”

Part of the Skills Manitoba challenge had students choosing a theme for their cars to accompany their submission. Students had many creative themes for their cars, including outer space, airplanes, a pirate ship, the summer season and more.

Three of Lenhardt Mair’s students placed first, second, and third in the Skills Manitoba challenge in the Grades K-4 category.

“I tried to prepare the class so they knew we might not place and we don’t know how many people in the province entered…they were so excited when they found out they had won. Aside from winning or placing, students had a great time going through the process. There was a lot of great learning that took place.” 

Lego Car Challenge Wind Power

– Photo and files provided Wellington

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