Racing with the Sun - Creating a Solar Car - Activity

Quick Look

Grade Level:: 6 (6-8)
Time Required:: 2 hours 30 minutes

(can be split into three 50-minute sessions)
Expendable Cost/Grp Although no charge or fee is required for using TeachEngineering curricular materials in your classroom, the lessons and activities often require material supplies. The expendable cost is the estimated cost of supplies needed for each group of students involved in the activity. Any reusable equipment that is necessary to teach the activity is not included in this estimate; see the Materials List/Supplies for details. :: US $35.00
Group Size:: 2
Activity Dependency Activity dependency indicates that this activity relies upon the contents of the TeachEngineering document(s) listed. :: None
Subject Areas:: Physical Science; Science and Technology

Photo shows two solar cars built by middle school students from Rogers Herr Middle School in Durham, NC, while participating in the Duke University Techtronics Program. They look like solar panels on skateboards. — These solar cars were built by middle school students in North Carolina.
copyright
Copyright © 2004 Paul Klenk, Duke University

Summary

Students use engineering design principles to construct and test a fully solar powered model car. Several options exist, though we recommend the "Junior Solar Sprint" (JSS) Car Kits that can be purchased with direction from the federal government. Using the JSS kit from Solar World, students are provided with a photovoltaic panel that produces ~3V at ~3W. An optional accessory kit also from Solar World includes wheels, axles and drive gears. A chassis must be built additionally. Balsa wood provides an excellent option though many others are available. The testing of the solar car culminates in a solar race between classmates.

This engineering curriculum meets Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Engineering Connection

Building and testing a solar car combines aspects of electrical and mechanical engineeering.

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to connect a solar photovoltaic panel to a motor and a run the motor forwards and backwards.

Educational Standards
Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards - Science

Design, build, and refine a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy. (Grades 9 - 12 ) More Details

View aligned curriculum

Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

This Performance Expectation focuses on the following Three Dimensional Learning aspects of NGSS:

Science & Engineering Practices	Disciplinary Core Ideas	Crosscutting Concepts
Design, evaluate, and/or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations. Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback!	At the macroscopic scale, energy manifests itself in multiple ways, such as in motion, sound, light, and thermal energy. Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback! Although energy cannot be destroyed, it can be converted to less useful forms—for example, to thermal energy in the surrounding environment. Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback! Criteria and constraints also include satisfying any requirements set by society, such as taking issues of risk mitigation into account, and they should be quantified to the extent possible and stated in such a way that one can tell if a given design meets them. Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback!	Energy cannot be created or destroyed—it only moves between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems. Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback! Modern civilization depends on major technological systems. Engineers continuously modify these technological systems by applying scientific knowledge and engineering design practices to increase benefits while decreasing costs and risks. Alignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback!

Science & Engineering Practices

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Crosscutting Concepts

Design, evaluate, and/or refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.