8th Grade Science Ballooned-Powered Racecar Projects
Carrie Regier
And they’re off!! Eighth grade science students ended the year with a STEM project designed to apply the science concepts they had been studying over the past two months of the school year. Students worked individually or with a partner to design and test balloon-powered racecars with the goal of travelling at least two meters. Most of the initial models were modified, tweaked, or abandoned all together in order to overcome the static friction holding the cars in place. After a week of experimenting, modifying, and perfecting, two competition days were held with trials on the gym floor as well as on carpet. Students applied many concepts in order to make this project successful, such as unbalanced forces, friction, speed, acceleration, gravity, and Newton’s laws of motion. A car designed by Ben Mestl and Reid Huebert won three of the five competition categories: farthest on carpet (6.99 m), farthest on the gym floor (11.3 m), and fastest on the gym floor (1.67 m/s). Luke Schaldecker and Peyton Ott won the other two categories: fastest on carpet (1.6 m/s) and overall best design. Congratulations to all the eighth graders on a successful project.
Submitted by Carrie Regier, Heartland Junior High Math & Science Teacher