Mousetrap racer materials coping saw square pin vise wood chassis screw eyes 2 large, 2 small sanding block 80 grit sandpaper 516 drill bit kit of race car parts hand tools sketch paper instructor provided colored pencils instructor provided mousetrap cars. Build a vehicle that can travel as far as possible by using only the energy from a single mousetrap. Explain the process by which the car is prepared in order for it to run. Build a mousetrap car with materials commonly found around the home. The first race day will be january 18th drive string attached closest to the predicted distance.
Reviewed in the united states on february 26, 2002. See more ideas about mousetrap car, cars and summer classes. Troubleshooting is included for students that run into difficulty with their mousetrap car. For a college for kids summer class i wanted to design a simpler mousetrap car than the 3wheeled bamboo mousetrap cars i had been experimenting with. Simple mouse trap powered car construction details. Worksheets are mousetrap cars student work, mousetrap ar project, mousetrapcar masme pdf, teacher subject area room no william schraer stem, mousetrap car module, hands on activities for innovative problem solving, glen ridge public. Mousetrappowered car challenge handson stem project. In addition to mousetrap cars, contests have been created for mousetrap boats. Students are required to keep a log of their building progress and update any. Consult your flinn scientific catalogreference manual for current prices. A mouse trappowered racer is a vehicle that is powered by the energy of a woundup mousetraps spring. Once youve set your mousetrap, youre ready to race. Mouse trap cars oak ridge institute for science and. Mousetrap car construction article and plan ideasinspire.
The beginning, or the topic sentence, states what the paragraph is about. Mousetrap cars how to build a mouse trap car design basics. Understand different designs will produce different speeds and distances of their cars. For maximum distance, youll want to be using as close to 100% of your mousetraps power as possible. This project contains detailed instructions for building criteria, iterative log and energy calculations. For di tdistance cars, pltht fthf thdi llace the trap farther from the drive axle youll sacrifice pulling force, but get more distance for accuracy cars as with the lenggppth of the snapper arm the placement of the mousetrap depends most on the length of the string for power cars, place the trap closer to the drive axle. The computeraided design cad files and all associated content posted to this website are created, uploaded, managed and owned by third party users. Newtons first law states that every material object continues in its state of rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by. What are the specifications and constraints the design must meet. While not considered to be fully aligned, the resources and expert recommendations provide teachers.
Mousetrap cars engineering design challenge worksheets. Even though they work using principles of physics, you certainly dont need to be a physicist to build and enjoy them. The complete builders manual fox chapel publishing beginnerfriendly. Mousetrap cars are a lot of fun to make, but its a good idea to have an. It also allows students to express and explore their own ideas, and they do have to explain their designs and why they chose that design, but it doesnt. Design constraints you can only use the materials in the kit. Newtons first law states that every material object continues in its state of rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces acting on it. Examine, alter, design, and experiment with mousetrap vehicles to understand velocity, potential and kinetic energy, acceleration, speed, circumference, and distance theres more potential in this guide than just potential energy. For the purposes of the model and data presented here. Seems simple enough, but the reason its so popular is because its rich in science concepts, applied math, and design possibilities. Mousetrap cars are frequently used to help students learn about mechanical advantage, distance, and gravity, with many teachers turning the experiment into a longdistance challenge. Fast to build so it could be built in one hour class time.
A conceptual physics project where students will design and build a car powered only by the propulsion of one standard sized mousetrap. Mousetrap car design day one friday procurement of parts pass checkpoint 1 day one friday. Appearance 25pts does it look like the car experienced some sort of design process. Displaying all worksheets related to mousetrap cars engineering design challenge. This design works well but it was designed mainly to be inexpensive. A mousetrap car designed for a distance competition photo courtesy of benwildeboer one of the things that makes mousetrappowered cars so fascinating is their simplicity. The cars are scored based on the following three categories. Design brief for the mouse trap vehicle home homepage. We shared the best of mousetrap cars information here. The most basic design is to tie one end of a string to the tip of a mousetraps snapper arm and then the other end of the string has a loop that is designed to. Worksheets are mousetrap cars student work, mousetrap ar project, mousetrapcar masme pdf, teacher subject area room no william schraer stem, mousetrap car module, hands on activities for innovative problem solving, glen ridge public schools mathematics curriculum. Troubleshooting is included for students that run into difficulty with their mousetrap car construction.
Mousetrap cars stem activity introduction design and build a car that runs on energy provided by a mousetrap. The stored potential energy in the spring of the mousetrap s snapper arm transforms into the kinetic energy that propels a car that you will make. Mousetrap cars are often used in physics or other physical science classes to help students build problemsolving skills, develop spatial awareness, learn to budget time, and practice cooperative behavior. Build a mousetrap car for your science project brighthub. Engineers design products such as cars, bridges, roads and streets. The students will also modify their cars to differentiate their product through marketing. Professor davis puts chemistry aside in favor of a physics and engineering assignment as he explains the prototype design that he and his daughter built for a mousetrap. Cars of this type are typically designed with higher mass rear wheel systems than are flat run cars. Variations include the use of multiple traps, or very big rat traps, for added power.
I was a firsttimer building mousetrap cars, and this book really explained the concepts behind building a winning car. The mousetrap car project is a classic physics challenge. Mousetrap cars will be tested on a smooth flat surface. The mousetrap cars will initially be generic so that they can provide a platform for common study in physics and math. This model will help students understand the way they design an object has an effect on the overall speed. A mousetrap car is a vehicle that is powered by the energy that can be stored in a wound up mousetrap spring. Pass out mousetrap racers grade sheet to each set of partners onepartnership. We are now a made from bucket lids and pringles lids. A very popular method of propulsion is to tie one end of a string to the arm or an extended lever. The engineering design competition requires participation in these two areas.
Here you will find all the latest and greatest untold construction secrets so you can build your very own mousetrap vehicle. The most basic design is to tie one end of a string to the tip of a mousetraps snapper arm and then the other end of the string has a loop that is designed to catch a hook that is glued to a drive axle. The purpose of this project is to build a mouse tap car and apply it to newtons laws of motion. Design and build a car that runs on energy provided by a mousetrap. Be able to design a mouse trap car to test their hypothesis on the speed of. The most basic design is to tie one end of a string to the tip of a mousetrap s snapper arm and then the other end of the string has a loop that is designed to catch a hook that is glued to a drive axle. In this lesson students will design a car whose center is made out of a mouse trap. The doc fizzixs mousetrap cars use more expensive materials such as brass axles and lever arm which is better. But in order to build vehicles that can travel over 100 meters or extreme speed cars that can travel 5 meters in less than a second, you must learn about some of the different variables that affect the performance of a mousetrap car.
Design basics earth shattering secrets for building record setting and winning mousetrap cars and racers. To challenge engineering and 3d design students, you can task them with redesigning the mousetrap car to accommodate a gearing system or a flywheel. The tips section offers students information that will allow them to build advanced mousetrap cars. Dec 18, 2012 once youve set your mousetrap, youre ready to race. Jan 27, 2020 mousetrap cars are frequently used to help students learn about mechanical advantage, distance, and gravity, with many teachers turning the experiment into a longdistance challenge. Design brief for the mouse trap vehicle problem design, construct and test a mousetrap powered vehicle that will travel the greatest distance and come closest to the predicted distance. As you build and complete the building of your car, answer the questions on the handout. C event in 2019 2020 official wards science olympiad kit for mousetrap vehicle. Foamcore board or balsa wood are often used for the body. To change the motion of your mousetrap car, you must. This means reducing the friction on surfaces of your car where points slide against each other. Mousetrap car building basics a mousetrap powered car is a vehicle that is powered by the energy of a woundup mouse traps spring.
This presentation helps students entertain all design considerations for mousetrap cars while this website discusses some of the foundational concepts for the flywheel. Use a mild lubricant, like wd40, auto grease, or a similar product to keep the points of contact. A mousetrap car makes for a great science project, physics classroom experiment, or a fun weekend activity. This activity has students designing their own mousetrap cars, making revisions, testing their designs, and selecting their best solution based on their own test data. A mousetrap powered car is a vehicle that is powered by the energy of a woundup mouse traps spring.
The wheels can be offtheshelf radiocontrolled car wheels, but many builders use blank cds or dvds because their thin edges reduce friction. Take a mousetrap and remove the pieces that make up the release trigger bait holder and wire bail, see picture. Troubleshooting is included for students that run into difficulty with. How to build a mousetrap car for distance with professor davis. In addition to building and racing a mousetrap car, students will be required to understand the physics of their cars by taking measurements and calculating their c. You will even find engineers working in the cosmetics industry making better, safer cosmetics. Nov 24, 2009 simple mouse trap powered car construction details. Provided are stepbystep instructions on how to build a mousetrap car. As you might guess, the materials used to build mousetrap powered cars are light out of necessity. The student follows the design process and sees direct applications of science and technology as he or she designs and builds a mousetrappowered vehicle and competes with classmates to design the fastest car or the car that goes the farthest.
A mousetrap car is a fun and easy science project for students. If the partnership is split between class periods then the car is raced twice and the best distance is recorded. The fishing line attached to the arm will pull on the line wrapped around the axle and it will start to unwind. Problem solving tech learning cd contains mousetrap. A mousetrap car is a small vehicle whose only source of motive power is a mousetrap. Mousetrap car project contributornot foundtype category instructional materials types experimentlab activity note this resource, vetted by nsta curators, is provided to teachers along with suggested modifications to make it more in line with the vision of the ngss. We will have a race of the cars to see who built the fastest car. The stored potential energy in the spring of the mousetraps snapper arm transforms into the kinetic energy that propels a car that you will make. Set it down on the floor and use a pencil or other long object to trip the mousetrap. Be able to design a mouse trap car to test their hypothesis on the speed of an object relating to energy. One of my sons friends stayed over yesterday and mentioned in passing hed been assigned to make a mouse trap car for school.
In redesigning this mousetrap car webpage i wanted to introduce more of the educational physics aspect to mousetrap cars. Compare the mousetrap car to the rubberbandpowered car by having an indoor race. The work to make our environment cleaner, they design theme parks and shopping centers and develop better communications system. A mousetrap is powered by a helical torsion spring. Mouse trap cars let the race begin you will build an originally designed vehicle powered solely by the energy of one standardsized mousetrap. Basic design of mousetrap cars and step by step to build a mousetrap car can be found here. Reference the data tables from the appendix to defend the conclusions which cause you to change your design e. Jul 28, 2016 to challenge engineering and 3d design students, you can task them with redesigning the mousetrap car to accommodate a gearing system or a flywheel. Students will design and build their own mousetrap powered cars. Then as the engineering process progresses the students will make decisions as to how they should modify their car to win the race.
More than a mousetrap vehicle kit, this is a complete starttofinish design activity. Discuss the experimental process by which you altered your car. Use a prototype mousetrap car to test different variables and then modify the design of the car to optimize its performance. In designing the quicky mouse mousetrap car i had the following objectives. A number of commercial vendors offer plans, kits and complete cars for sale. Each cad and any associated text, image or data is in no way sponsored by or affiliated with any company, organization or realworld item, product, or good it may purport to portray. Understand the engineering design cycle and its parts and utilize them to design and build a mousetrap car. Concepts energy transfer dependent and independent variables. Glue the mousetrap in place towards the front on the topside of the car with hot glue. Mousetrap cars are a lot of fun to make, but its a good idea to have an adult help so you dont hurt your fingers. I thought about how i had lots of fun making those way back and decided to make one out of scraps off my desk and documen. It mainly consists of few major parts such as the car body mouse trap, car wheel, tires, and it is a small car without braking system. Do not buy a car or plans from any website or store. How to build a mousetrap car with pictures wikihow.
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