A huge earthquake has devastated a town in Monrovia. The people have no water to drink as the water supply system has been destroyed. The United Nations Rescue Teams have arrived but the have no trucks to carry water into the town. The army have some trucks but only in pieces. They send out an appeal to Mathematicians to help them work out how to get the water in. They need to get the trucks they are assembling and the water down a very steep slope. The trucks must not be too heavy or they will sink into the dirt track.

You and your team are the Mathematicians who have volunteered to help. You have two hours to build and test a model truck that will do the job without sinking into the dirt track.

The testing of your model will tell you how efficient it is and how the real truck would perform. The last 30 minutes will be against the clock to see who has the most efficient truck. The winning team will be the one that gets the most water to the town. You will have a slope to run your truck down.

Can your truck take it? Is it too heavy? You will have to decide whether to fill up your bottle or do more runs with a lighter load.

Space needed - a large classroom or hall. We would ask that for each participating pupil, the school provides a plastic drinks bottle (500ml - round not square).

Cost:  KS3/4 - £150 half day, £300 full day

If you are interested please contact Hayley on 01525 408082.