Start Your Engines

Congratulations students! You and Trevor Bayne are designing a new type of race car start that uses both a ramp and a slingshot. You are trying to get the fastest start possible and thus the fastest final speed on a 2 meter track. This will involve designing and building prototypes, but beware: Jeff Gordon and the Charlotte crew would love to beat us Knoxvillians by stealing our ideas.

In order to keep your plan a secret, you will document your group planning, testing prototypes, and your final timed entry all on video. Each group of four students will be given duct tape, a package of 7 tracks, two matchbox cars, rubber bands in a variety of widths and lengths, and a flipcam. You will have only 50 minutes to complete your task. Your finished video will be less than ten minutes in length, and your ramp and car will be ready to activate.

Students will cooperate in groups of four with an assigned leader, and practice physical science standards including kinetic energy and gravitational and elastic potential energy.
They will use triple beam balances if needed to weigh cars and add weight if needed. They will demonstrate mastery of building prototypes based on prior knowledge and experience.

Upon completion, groups will present their videos to the class and compare speeds as represented on the video. Finally, groups will demonstrate with their finished ramps.