The Go-Car Challenge
We know with making how important it can be to make a tight budget go far. If you're going to invest in our Educator Packs of Doodlebots, what else can you do with those motors? We've already mentioned the Bubble Maker Challenge in a previous newsletter. Something else we've done with our motors is make Go-Cars.
I got the idea for Go-Cars from one of my favourite resources, Tinkering: Kids Learn By Making Stuff by Curt Gabrielson. (Awesome book and that's a library link. It's also worth checking out the Community Science Workshop.) Essentially, with Go-Cars, you are using the same motor the Doodlebots use to make a fan that pushes enough air to make the car go.
We built these in the winter session of my Inventors Workshop at GNAG.ca. Here's what we learned:
- Super bouncy balls on bamboo skewers worked really well as wheels
- Putting the bamboo skewers through straws was the key to making the wheels turn
- It was important to keep the car as light as possible
- Cups helped lift the motor high enough make bigger fan blades
- Make sure the fan blades scoop the air
- AA batteries weren't strong enough - we needed to use 9V's
The Go-Car was a difficult challenge. Not everyone was successful! But when we got it working, it was really exciting!
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