Drag Racing Cups

This week at Girlstart After School, girls learned and used some concepts that are essential to the Automotive Engineer career! The cars that girls designed run on a simple little office supply – rubber bands – which were stretched and twisted to propel cars forward with mechanical energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls were given coffee cups and lids, washers, beads, and rubber bands to construct their cars. With the help of their STEM Crew leaders’ instructions, each table built their design and tested their cars for functionality. Students evaluated their cars according to a few standards: Traveling in a straight line, twisting of rubber band without bunching up, and as little wobbling of the wheels as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

After making their modifications, students got to race their creations! Girls figured out that taking advantage of the potential energy of the wound-up rubber band was the best way to make their car run faster and longer, so by winding the rubber band tighter and tighter, the car traveled a greater distance.