the spacecraft race_2014_7c
DESCRIPTION
The Spacecraft Race_2014_7CTRANSCRIPT
building a vehicle of lightweight materials,
pushed by the air released from a balloon;
completing worksheets with the results of the
measures and calculations for finding the speed of
the vehicles.
The experimental activity
„The spacecraft race”
had two steps:
In order to build the vehicles,
the teams had to use the
materials:
• polystyrene trays
• flexible straws
• toothpicks
• coloured balloons
• threads
• wires
• polystyrene cylinders for
wheels
• sandpaper
• geometry instruments
• markers.
•The data were
put in the table of
calculations to
determine the
speed of the
vehicle for each of
the five tries were
made.
The vehicle moved on the rocket principle. The air
was suddenly released from the balloon, producing un
impulse which made the vehicle move;
In order to make the vehicle move faster we cut the
unnecessary parts from the polystyrene tray, which made it
heavier. Becoming lighter its speed got higher;
First, we tried to use two balloons, hoping to get
better results, but they were always having different amounts
of air and the vehicle was changing its direction;
The balloon was placed inside the tray because if it
had been put outside the polystyrene tray, the vehicle would
have bent forward and stopped. The straw was directed
towards the ground giving a higher impulse to the vehicle.