10:00am-4:00pm on Saturday 29 March
Times shown are in GMT (UTC +0) up to the 26th March. For events on or after 27th March times are in BST (UTC +1).
Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, James Dyson Building, Seminar Room & Teaching Room, Department of Engineering Trumpington Street, CB2 1PZ
Get ready for an adventure where YOU become the flood-fighting hero! In this action-packed activity, kids will learn how to protect a town from a rushing flash flood by designing their own sustainable buildings and flood defences using the magic of origami and engineering tricks. If you love building things, this activity is for you!
Imagine you’re the engineer in charge of a model-town that needs protection from flooding. With a little origami magic, you’ll fold paper into cool buildings and try to make them strong and ready to stand up to a flood. See how many weights your structure can carry. Then Look at your town layout and decide where your defences should go to block a flood. Should you put a flood wall here? A levee there? Or create reservoirs to store rainwater? Think like a real engineer to keep your town safe.
Why it’s Awesome
This activity is not only super fun, but it also teaches you all about how engineers work to protect towns from real floods! You’ll learn how strong designs and smart planning help in the real world—whether it’s against rivers, heavy rain, or rising sea levels. And best of all, you get to create your own origami designs and see them in action!
Now for the fun! Test your town against a flood of colourful bouncing balls. Will your buildings and defences hold strong, or will the water break through? You’ll find out as the balls race down and hit your creations!
