Middle School Students Complete Motorized Toy Car Project

A World in Motion is an elective class for the 2014-15 school year.  There are eight seventh grade students enrolled in the elective class. These students completed two projects this year as part of the curriculum. The second project for the elective was the motorized toy car. Students developed new designs for electric gear driven toys. The students were involved in writing proposals, drawing sketches, and working with models to develop a plan to meet a specific set of design requirements. Force and friction, simple machines, levers and gears, torque and design were the core scientific concepts covered in this challenge. The culminating event occurred on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 when students presented and demonstrated their cars. The judges evaluated each team and medals were awarded to first, second, and third place teams.

The first project was the gravity cruiser which culminated in December 2014.

A World in Motion is an award-winning program that brings science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to life in the classroom. Student design teams work together to engineer and construct prototype toy vehicles to meet specific challenge requirements. Student teams set goals, gather and analyze market survey research, design, test, build, and construct. Student teams sharpen their writing and public speaking skills when they create their proposals and presentations to show off the new products they created. Student teams explore potential and kinetic energy, force and friction, inertia, momentum, simple machines, gears, torque, etc.

 “Programs like this one are important because they give students a chance to do real work. There isn’t a set of problems on page to complete. Instead, the teams are asked to design something. They take the project from concept and design through testing and troubleshooting. They experience the cycle that is engineering.” – Mary Konczal, A World in Motion Teacher