A school in Newton Mearns has won a national competition to tackle marine litter across Scotland.

Pupils at Crookfur Primary School won the top award in the event organised by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.

The competition was a part of their STEM the Flow competition which encourages pupils to investigate and design solutions to stop marine litter at source as part of the national Upstream Battle campaign.

The contest led pupils to investigate #Source2Sea litter in their localities, identify issues, raise awareness, and invent an engineering solution to the problem.

Participants developed a project plan, carried out research, conceptualised a solution, and produced a scientific poster or a model to showcase their idea.

Crookfur Primary’s project secured nearly 50 per cent of the votes, winning 'Best Overall Project'.

The primary five pupils looked into the effect of trash on Capelrig Burn in their area, followed by researching existing litter management methodologies in rivers.

Joe Oxley-Glenister, education and learning officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: "It was fantastic to see such a range of innovative, sustainable and collaborative entries to the first national STEM the Flow competition.

"There was representation from across Scotland.

"It was evident that all the participants were passionate and motivated to address source to sea litter in their local area, by completing thorough investigations to identify how the issue was impacting their community and raising awareness of these as part of their STEM the Flow projects."

Grant Atkinson, P5 class teacher at Crookfur Primary School, added: "Our class thoroughly enjoyed participating in the STEM the Flow Engineering Challenge as it gave the pupils an opportunity to explore our local environment by engaging with global issues.

"During the project pupils showcased communication, teamwork and researching skills whilst creating their group presentations.

"As a class teacher, I highly recommend encouraging pupils to get involved in these experiences as it helps to develop and foster invaluable skills."

The pupils built on their research, utilising Computer-Aided Design software to invent a machine that would go from one side of the burn to another, extracting litter and preventing it from reaching the sea.

It also ensured the safety of the wildlife in the burn.

The school used the competition as a class project through which 33 pupils split into smaller teams to research, design, and create models of their solution using recycled materials donated by parents and guardians.

A single entry was submitted to the contest after a class vote.

The contest submissions were exhibited online, after which they were taken to a public vote that captured nearly 1000 votes in total.

Imogen Houston, Civil Engineering intern for Water and Environment at Jacobs, co-organised the second interactive workshop for the participants on The Design Process and Project Planning.

She said: "It is inspiring to see the younger generation's creativity and passion to complete the challenge, whilst understanding the importance of the problem."