Skimmer Car Redesign

In 7th grade, you designed and built a basic skimmer car. Now, as 8th-grade engineers, you will take that foundational knowledge and apply it to a new challenge. Your task is to redesign and rebuild the skimmer car by strategically changing specific variables to enhance its performance. You will choose one of the following levels of redesign:

• Level 1: Material Modification: Rebuild the skimmer car using the same basic design and scale, but experiment with different materials for key components to analyze their impact on performance.

• Level 2: Scale Variation: Redesign and rebuild the skimmer car at a different scale (larger or smaller), keeping the materials similar, to investigate how size affects its movement.

• Level 3: Scoop Redesign: Focus on significantly altering the design and/or size of the air scoop (if applicable to the original design) to optimize its effectiveness in propelling or stabilizing the car. You may also combine this with other variable changes.

Design Constraints:

• You must maintain the core concept of a skimmer car (a lightweight vehicle propelled by a push and designed to travel efficiently).

• You must clearly identify and document the specific variable(s) you are changing and your reasoning behind these changes.

• You must use readily available materials (as determined by the teacher).

• Your redesigned skimmer car must be manually propelled (e.g., by a consistent push).

• You must conduct at least three controlled tests to measure the performance of your redesigned skimmer car (speed and/or distance).

• You must document your design process, data collection, and analysis.