Russell's Teapot issue 4

SATRO Competition
In the evening of the 24th of January, myself and a select few from key-stages 3,4 and
5 were chosen to compete in the Surry SATRO problem solving challenge. After a half
hour journey and looking at intense competition, we were quite nervous for what was
about to begin. We were given 90 minutes to design a contraption that would turn on
a lamp using a marble dropped by somebody from the group after exactly 10 seconds.
After spending 10-15 minutes planning, us (the KS5 group) decided as a collective that
the best course of action was to give ourselves as much time as possible for testing. As
the clock ticked closer and closer to 0, we spent more and more time adjusting our contraption
until it was as well as we could design it. After an extremely tense testing period,
we were second to last out of the KS5 teams to be judged. Entrusting Oliver Tchum
to drop the marble, we clasped our hands together and prayed. 10.2 seconds. Although
we have gotten better times in our test runs, we decided to refrain from doing a rerun
in order to get a 20-point bonus afterwards. After a few more minutes, the results were
to be announced. The KS3 group’s winners were up first. Our group came in second
place, losing out from first by only a few points. KS4’s group weren’t so lucky and just
barely lost second place to our competitors. The KS5 groups were last, but certainly not
least. With 167/170 points, we came in first place, and broke both our school’s records,
as well as SATRO’s. Both the KS3 and KS5 groups are invited to the finals, where we
will aim for nothing but the top. Many thanks to Mr Endersby and Mrs Cook for organising
this, and we hope that we’ll be able to do this even better next time.
By CJ Coleman Benjamin
Image taken of the team in action