Today at STEM club

I have the honor of assisting the Ralph L. every month as he attempts to herd cats and impart some of his vast knowledge of engineering and general science to the kids at Bellow's Free Academy, Fairfax VT. Last year we did several projects with the kids revolving around basic electromagnetic principles and made a few simple motors and machines. This year Ralph has decided to focus on energy and motion. We've done a few projects with balloons to introduce the idea of thrust, and today we assembled and experimented with some simple rubber band cars. We covered the definition of energy, the difference between potential and kinetic energy, and the importance of friction.

 
The kids had to assemble all the parts, consisting largely of some screws, washers, rubber bands, and prepared wooden components; and then see how well they could get the little things to go. They could experiment with front wheel versus rear wheel drive, different levels of tension on the rubber band drive, and various methods for creating traction on a smooth table. We had a track set up on another table with yard stick rails (special thanks to J&L Hardware!) so that the kids could race their cars to see which configuration would go fastest and farthest. The library staff at the Fairfax Community Library has been very accommodating. Let's see how they do with next month's project...

What might not be totally apparent is that Ralph created these kits and fabricated  all the pieces himself. The wheels were all hand-turned on his machine shop tools and he pre-drilled, and test assembled every single one of them (about 15 in all). He even waxed the holes for the screws and axles to make everything go smoothly. This pales in comparison to the wire coils he pre-wound for the earlier simple motor project (and the winding machine he scratch built to assist) but I'm sure it was a significant time commitment all the same. I keep telling him that I want him to teach me how to use the machine shop tools. Now if I can just get some regular time to get over to his place to learn!

73 de KB1VNA
Eric