Balloon Car Challenge
You just found a MakerSpace Challenge STEAM Project, Well Done!!
Provided by Chango PTA, Mrs Juda & Mrs Proler
This project is just for you and just for fun, but we are going to add an element of competitiveness if you want to!
When you are done ask a grownup to take a picture of what you have made and share it @ChangoPTA - Facebook
Enjoy this story while you create - The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
If you have access to your school Epic account you can read it here too - The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
If you found a kit you will find there isn't much there this time:
A balloon
A Straw
A link to this space
Other things you will need a rule or tape measure and pencil to record your results.
Build materials for your vehicle (see below for ideas)
a car design idea - Lego
Have you ever blown up a balloon and let it go? The air rapidly escapes the balloon making it fly away.
Your challenge is to harness this energy to propel a vehicle forward!
The balloon-powered vehicle needs three main parts: the body, the wheels, and the axles.
The axles connect the wheels to the body and allow them to spin.
Build and Design Rules/Ideas
Build Rules
1. The car must be propelled forward by the air escaping the balloon ONLY
2. The car must be sturdy and not fall apart when in use.
3. The car must travel in approximately a straight line. (It makes it easier to record the result)
To Make your car you can use anything you have to hand!
Here are a few ideas...
Car body: Plastic bottles, plastic cups, cardboard , shoe boxes, Lego, Lego Technic, K'nex
Wheels: CDs, bottle caps, empty rolls of tape, cardboard, Lego wheels
Axles: Wooden pencils, skewers, cocktail sticks, Popsicle sticks
Other materials: plastic straws, glue, tape, paper clips, scissors, rubber bands
A plastic bottle car idea
Starting to Design our cars
Rocket Balloon Car idea - design help
The Race
Our finished cars and masking tape starting line
Take a picture of your finished car, you can share it with us and your results!
When you are ready to race, choose a flat, smooth surface and mark off a start line (We used Masking Tape on our living room floor)
Take it in turns to inflate your balloon, place your vehicle and release. (If there is more than one of you are racing)
Mark off the front of the car, after it has finished moving, and then measure from the starting line to the mark and make a note of the distance.
We have created this recording form for you to use --> Race Results (You can enter more than once, we will take your best!)
balloon car.mp4These are our car runs.
Both cars shown worked after a few design changes and some work.
All our designs were very different and all achieved a result.
It was a fun day of experimenting and playing.
The Results
We have created this recording form for you to use --> Race Results
(You can enter more than once, we will take your best!)
Once we have a few entries we will start posting the Winners! - Good Luck!
Our house Winner! Who will be yours?
Learn More and Keep Creating
If you have access to Epic (contact the school Library if you don't) There are a few great books to explore the reasons behind some of your results.
1.https://www.getepic.com/app/read/59828 Forces: Physical Science for Kids by Andi Diehn (aimed at 3-7 year olds)
2.https://www.getepic.com/app/read/51903 Super Simple Experiments with Mass: Fun and Innovative Science Projects
by Paige V. Polinsky (aimed at 7-9 year olds)
Great videos to watch about Forces, Motion, Mass and Friction (Everything acting on your balloon cars and YOU for that matter!)
If you want more projects like this or something else, maybe you have an idea or a topic please let us know.
(Contact Arts in Ed. Chango with your ideas and share your projects)