Kelly DeMarco, a Pierce Downer fifth grade teacher, challenged her students to build racecars using only paper, lifesavers, paper clips, straws and tape. Students would operate the racecars by blowing on them. Successful racecars needed to travel the farthest on a straight line.
Her students formed teams and designed, built and tested their model cars. They used different scientific variables to test and improve upon them.
“Students applied STEM skills and truly got to think like a scientist during this project,” DeMarco said. “In teams, they planned, built, tested and perfected their racecars, similar to how actual engineers and scientists design prototypes of real-life tools.”
The project concluded when students competed to see which team designed the best racecar. Students raced their top-performing car, called their elite racecar, as well as their second-highest performing car, called their “premiere” car.