Pupils from the fifth grade at Torp's school in Bankeryd took part in experiments and learnt about different materials and more during VERA Day Junior at the School of Engineering (JTH).

Pupils learned about technology at VERA Day Junior

What does an engineer do? This and much more was taught to about 40 pupils from the fifth grade at Torp's school in Bankeryd during the VERA Day Junior at the School of Engineering (JTH) at Jönköping University (JU) on 31 March.

"Very fun and exciting," says the pupil Esther Krantz.

Esther Krantz and Adrian Bodarve enjoyed coming to JTH and VERA Day Junior.

The pupils were divided into groups and walked around between a handful of stations at JTH where they performed technical experiments, tested different materials, worked with coding, built lego with and without description and learned about lighting design and more. They also got to meet some of the JU Solar Team, who will be competing in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia at the end of August.

"The teachers were fun and good at explaining"

"It is great to come here and get to do new things and try different experiments. It seems nice here and the teachers were fun and good at explaining things," says Esther Krantz.

She liked the programming part best, where the students had to instruct characters in a version of the game Minecraft to perform various tasks, such as digging or building. So did her classmate Adrian Bodarve.

"My group was praised for being the most successful in the Minecraft game. Then it was exciting to see what you can do with technology at the different stations, says Adrian Bodarve.

"Can give ripples in the water"

Torp School has participated in VERA Day Junior several times before and class teacher Rebecca Stolper emphasizes that the day is appreciated by both students and teachers.

"It is a good and easy way for the children to learn about technology, which can certainly have a ripple effect. It is rewarding and educational for them to come to a university and try new things," says Rebecca Stolper.

Jasmin Jakupovic, Lecturer Computer Science, led the station where the children had to think logically and use simple coding in a Minecraft world.

"It can create an interest in how this type of game is built and that they want to learn more about it in the future," says Jasmin Jakupovic, who thinks VERA Day Junior is a success.

VERA Day is named after Vera Sandberg, who became Sweden's first female engineer in 1914. JTH also organizes a VERA Day for young women because more female engineers are needed, but VERA Day Junior is aimed at both girls and boys.