Gladstone
2017 Science Olympics
Balloon Powered Car
Task:
Working in your group you are to construct a balloon powered car to travel as
far as possible. It must travel a minimum distance of 2 meters on the ground along the course from the
starting line to get full marks and a maximum distance of whatever you can
manage to try and win the olympics.
Limitations
- The car
should be sturdy and not fall apart when in use.
- The car
should go straight.
- The car
should go as far as possible.
· The
car must look like a car and have a body
and wheels. It must have a minimum
of 3 wheels.
· The
balloons are to be the only source of energy for the car. A maximum of two balloons may be used on the
car. No external sources of energy are
permitted including, but not limited to, push starts, blowing on the car,
batteries, solar cells, elastics, springs etc.
- The car must
stay on the ground
- The
course consists of a concrete surface either the tennis courts, running
track or breezeway.
Design
Method
- Do some
background research on balloon-powered cars. Do an internet image or video
search for "balloon powered car" and your group will see many
different designs, made from different materials. This can inspire your
group design.
- Think about
what materials you want to use for your car, and how you will connect the
different pieces together. For example, what do you want to use for
wheels?
- Make sketches
of possible designs on paper before you start building and get agreement
on which model your group wants to go with. Have an open mind and consider
all options. Try and get everyone in the group to offer their thoughts by
taking turns to speak.
- Remember to
test your car and then adjust the design to improve it.
Materials
permitted:
Body -
plastic bottles, aluminum pop cans, juice boxes, cardboard, paper, tape
Wheels
– bottle caps, cds, cardboard, tape, use anything not designed as a wheel (ie
you can’t use toy car wheels)
Axle
– straws, chopsticks, string, toothpicks, tape
Core Competencies
– Building a balloon powered car
Competencies come into play
when students are engaged in “doing” in any area of learning. This includes
activities where students use thinking, collaboration, and communication to
solve problems, address issues, or make decisions. The ultimate goal is for
learners to employ the core competencies every day in school and in life, and
for the core competencies to be an integral part of the learning in all
curriculum areas.
This is an engineering design and build project and as such
the students should design, build, test and adjust in the process known as
Iteration.
Design Tips:
Wheel axle connection?
Air going backwards in order to make car go forward -
Streamlined body?
Is car weight a factor…
