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LESSON 3: Let's make a Solar Car

Subject Area

General Physics

Grade

10-12

Estimated Length

5 days

Prerequisite knowledge/skills

  1. The ability to work with electronics
  2. Knowledge of waves and light
  3. The ability to make structural changes to the car

Description of new content

This third lesson of the engineering design project will transform the car into a solar car!!!
Goals
  • The first step in this part of the project entails the students adding 1-2 solar cells to the car to power a dc motor.
  • The second step involves connecting the dc motor to the car and developing a method to drive the wheels using the dc motor.
Materials Needed

The following is a list of parts that will be needed to complete this project for 15 groups of students:

Item Description Quantity Unit Price $
Solar Cells
30 6.00
DC motor 15 12.99

Procedure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1-4
The student will have the first four days to design and re-design the mounting and instalation of the solar panels and dc motor. The overall goal of this re-design is to build a car that will travel as fast as possible and beat the other groups in a drag race. The students are given four days to work on this part to allow time to test how fast their car is able to travel.

The first step in this part of the project entails the students mounting the dc motor and solar cells onto the body of the car.

  • With the provided dc motor and solar cells, the students should add these components to their car using the least amount of materials possible to reduce the weight of the car.
  • The students should be able to design an appropriate mounting system.

The second step is connecting the electrical outputs from the solar cells to the dc motor.

  • The students should be able to use the appropriate tools for connecting the solar cells to the motor.
  • This part may require the use of a soldering iron and may require assistance from the teacher.

The third step is designing a system to drive the wheels using the dc motor.

  • The students are encouraged to explore many options for this section.
  • One possible solution is using the rubber bands from the previous lesson.

Day 5

On the last day of the lesson, there will be a tournament to find out which group designed a car that can travel the fastest.


Evaluation Use this worksheet to evaluate how well the students understand the goal behind this lesson.
Extensions MIT Solar Car Team
References

Solar Motors

Solar Cells