Solar Flare
- Solar car name: Solar Flare
- School name: Sally Ride Elementary school
- Team member: John
- John: 4th Grade
I used the basic motor and solar panel. I had a problem with building my car though. I did not have all the parts I needed to build the car from the instructions, so I used everyday materials that I have a lot of. I used most of the instructions that were in my kit, like to make the motor and prep the other things I need.
I made the rest of the car on my own. I am proud of myself because that I made my own solar car!
- Materials I used to make my car:
- Cardboard
- Tape
- Wheels
- Motor
- Gears
- Liquid glue
- Spacers
- Straws
- Rubber bands
- Solar panel
- A material that is like wood
- Steel axles
- Connecter wires to the motor and solar panel
The measurements of my car are:
Weight: 246 grams
Length: 10 1/2 inches
Height: lower part is 2 6/8 inches and higher part is 3 11/16 inches
My favorite part is how the solar panel is placed on the car. Three pieces of cardboard are needed to hold the panel straight up so it can have the most sunlight hit the panel. I think this is important because you do not know where the sun will be when you race on the track, unless you know the time and where the sun will be. In my opinion, it can cause problems if you talk about aerodynamics because the pieces that hold up the solar panel do not let air past them in the front and back, so this will have air pressure and the car will not go as fast.
- Trial 1: 4/18/2021, 11:30 am, cloudy, went: 33 feet or 11 yards.
- Trial 2: 4/18/2021, 11:30 am, cloudy, went: 33 feet and 21 inches or 34 feet and 9 inches.
- Trial 3: 4/18/2021, 11:50 am, no sun to make the car to go, went: 0 feet
Final Trial that happened on 4/22/21 at 3 PM with better weather conditions. At last a sunny day! The car ran 20 meters in 7 seconds! The student standing on the basketball court marks the 20 meters required for this competition. The car is released in the 2nd second, so the time of my car is officially 7 seconds after the 20 meters. Its speed was 10.3 Kilometers per hour, almost as fast as my mom’s car! 🙂
This website and its content was approved by Ms. Berriz.
A note on your web page design….I liked how you had the smaller images that you could click on to get a closer look. Very nice!
I love the name and just everything about your car don’t stop trying! we’re rooting for you
Very good john !!!! You designed a solar car with power and speed. What if there hadn’t been the grass at the end? Wonderful job.
Great presentation of all the work you put into designing and building your car, and how you solved any problems you encountered. Glad to see you persisted until there was a sunny day for you to test drive the car. It’s also great to see all of the moral support from your family members in the comments posted! That sure does help, and they sure are proud of you! Congratulations and good luck!
Hi I am John Grim. Thank you for the comments. It was my first time, but not the last. Their were a lot of mistakes but we did it.
This is so awesome John!! We loved all the pictures, the step by step descriptions and the video at the end was a perfect way to see how it all came together.
We are all proud of all the hard work we know you put in! Congratulations on a job well done!🥳 🤗
Big hugs from the whole Carter family!!
Thank you for the comment Carter family. I enjoyed the adventure and their are more coming.
That was really cool😀😎. I can see you worked hard on this project!
Thank you for the comment Ian. I know what to do and I did it. I loved the experience!
It was wonderful to actually see your solar car… On your last visit you explained what you had to do to complete this project. You did an awesome job, kiddo.. from start to finish and we are both so proud of you! Excellent work with the building and having to come up with substitutions to make your car.. creative thinking at its best! Your narrative of this project was extremely helpful and very interesting. Looking forward to seeing you race your solar car against your mom’s car..lol. Very proud of you!
Thank you for the comment granny and grampy. I know what I did and I am proud of myself.
Definitely the weather conditions made a difference! Problem solving skills were evident!! Great job!
Thank you for the comment Raquel. I learned a lot on the way and I used that knowledge to make a bigger project.
Wow John! This is amazing. Not only is the car impressive, but we completely admire the way you explained the project, it’s purpose and result. I feel like you took us through the conception, design and execution of a difficult project, with perfect detail, so that others might be inspired to create something too. This was a great creation done extremely well and I look forward to seeing many more in the future! You can do anything in life you want John, God has equipped you with all the tools you’ll need to be successful. We love you! Congratulations on a challenging job done with excellence!
Thank you for the comment Susan. I am happy everyone is so glad of my project.
Hi John,
Great notes and explanation on the step by step process for making your solar flare car, I enjoyed reading about your trials and triumphs during this build. It goes to show that using everyday materials, thinking out of the box and getting creative in order to achieve our goals is need at times. You over came many elements and your car was a success. Good job!
Thank you for the comment Jenny. I used what I learned to make something bigger.
Wow!
June and I are very impressed. You’ve engineered that car very well. Thinking about the structure, weight of the vehicle and power it takes to make sure that the car moves is what engineers do when they develop a new invention. I bet you’re full of inventions.
We’re proud of you.
Well done!
Thank you for the comment. I never knew you liked engineers. I have learned a whole lot doing this project.
Great job John! I so admire the way you pushed through the tough moments, troubleshooting any issues the car was having during the build and trials. You can do hard things … proud of bud.
Thank you Karen. I am so proud of myself too. I can do hard things.
Great job with this project! I like how you used ingenuity to solve the problems that you encountered during the building process of this car, and how you analyzed the aerodynamics of it. I also appreciated that you included data from three different trials, of course the weather doesn’t always cooperate with science experiments! Your car achieved good speed. Congratulations!
Thank you jennifer for the comment. I will never stop trying.