Materials List: Creative Crash Test Cars

  • a few raw eggs (expect some to break during crash tests)
  • model car base kits; such as a wooden car kit at https://www.teachersource.com/product/wooden-car-kit/energy, the engineering sail car class pack (enough for 30 students) at https://www.pitsco.com/Try-This-Engineering-Class-Pack, or individually at https://www.pitsco.com/try-this-engineering-kit; alternatively, provide assorted craft supplies from which students construct their own basic model car bases
  • assorted building materials, such as cardboard, wooden craft sticks, tag board, foam sheets, felt sheets, cotton or polyester fill, chenille stems/pipe cleaners, plastic drinking straws, string/yarn, rubber bands, balloons
  • assorted tools and adhesives, such as rulers, scissors, tape, white glue, hot glue
  • wooden board for a ramp, 10-inches wide x 3-5-feet long, to run all model cars down for crash testing; alternatively, use sturdy cardboard
  • plastic sheeting, to tape against the wall and floor for mess protection during testing
  • washers and duct tape, to add equal weight to all cars, to improve the crash dynamics
  • digital scale, to measure car mass
  • smartphone or tablet, to video record the model cars in slow motion
  • stopwatches, for timing crash tests
  • (optional) Internet access for researching current car safety features
https://www.teachengineering.org/makerchallenges/view/nds-1746-creative-crash-test-cars-mass-momentum