Belinda’s Year 11 Integrated Science students designed vehicles in a recent project that featured thoroughly modern technology along with something that dates back to the 1890s.
The vehicles take the potential energy of the arm of a mouse trap*. When released, the mouse trap causes a long stick to pull a string that is attached to the axle. This causes the axle to spin (rotational energy) which makes the wheels turn and hence the car moves (kinetic energy).
Students used an application called SparkVue on their phones to connect wirelessly with Bluetooth to the PASCO motion sensor. The PASCO motion sensor acts like a dolphin and sends out little signals which bounce off the car and it can then give the distance and speed of the car.
We watched vehicles designed by Woon, Tereya, Gospel and Kara in action.
