Our grade 7 students in the Introduction to Design and Engineering STEM Option course have begun an exciting journey to design and build their own CO₂-powered cars. The project begins with the Explore Phase, where students dive into Newton’s Laws of Motion, revisit concepts from their Grade 6 science unit on Air and Aerodynamics, and explore various CO₂ dragster body styles.

In this phase, students search the internet for potential ideas, themes, or shapes that could inspire their designs. They might draw inspiration from nature and animals, science fiction, existing vehicles, or other creative sources. Once they have gathered at least six ideas, students create a thumbnail page filled with quick, low-resolution sketches. While these sketches are not highly detailed, they must effectively communicate clear design concepts. By the end of the Explore Phase, students have brainstormed and developed several promising design ideas.

Next comes the Create and Solve Phase, where students select their strongest design idea and begin crafting a detailed, 1:1 scale presentation drawing. This drawing includes two perspectives and projection lines connecting the side and top profiles of their proposed car design. The completed presentation drawing will serve as a template, guiding students as they cut, shape, and sand their wooden car blanks.

Before diving into the physical build, we will take a short break from car construction to focus on tool safety and skill-building workshops. These sessions will ensure that all students are safe, confident, and competent when using tools in our Maker Space.

Already, the car designs this year are looking fantastic! Students are taking full advantage of our Maker Space tools to bring their visions to life. They are creating custom vinyl stickers using our vinyl cutters and adding intricate graphics by laser etching with our laser cutters.

We can’t wait to see these innovative designs speed down the track!

This blog post was enhanced with ChatGPT using the prompt, “Review and fix this blog post for grammar, clarity, and errors.” Feedback from ChatGPT, “This version maintains the structure of your original post while improving readability and providing a clearer overview of the project phases.”