Armed with plastic bottles, caps, and cardboard tubes, Lower School students took their assignment for the all-school build seriously.
"Collect recycled material from home to design an up-cycled car to race down a derby track. Nothing could be purchased and no toy parts allowed," explained Lower School Technology Coordinate Kim Farrell, Hon. "The students' cars needed to be 100g or less. We also suggested it would be nice to add some EA spirit into their designs."
All of the design work and building took place at school. Students also worked in science class to learn more about design. "I asked them questions, such as - what allows the car to move, what would happen if the bar (axle) was taped to the body of the car, and introduced the word axle," explained science teacher Marilyn Kistler, Hon. "We also explored the challenge of allowing the axle to move and attaching it to the car body."
"It was great to see all the young engineers in action!" said Lower School Technology Coach Christian Cloud. "All of our students were using the Design Process to create, test, and race their wonderful cars. Students made mistakes in their designs, but with determination they re-designed their prototypes to achieve the goal of racing down the ramp."
"I used a water bottle, caps of water bottles, and toothpicks," explained 3rd grader Charlie Esterhai. "I didn't want the wheels to move around inside the water bottle, so I figured out a way to tape it. I also poked holes inside the water bottle and put the toothpicks inside with straws to make it roll."
"I used toothpicks for an axle and candle bottoms for the wheels," shared 3rd grader Harper Jameson. "I also needed more weight because weight makes it go faster. I added some metal clips." Harper won for overall best looking car.
When the building was complete, Lower School students raced over to the Athletic Center for the Derby Day competition. Each student raced against their homeroom classmates down a track built by Head of Lower School Terry Malone. That winner then raced for the grade finalist spot.
The winner from each grade raced in the grand final where 1st grader Elijah Henderson's Sunkist soda bottle, filled with red pipe cleaners, zipped to the finish line first. The 4th grade car, built by 4th grade teacher Brendan Fitzpatrick, Hon., won in the teacher category.
The 5th grade pep band played throughout the derby racing as students cheered for their classmates and teachers. "Including a pep rally was a new and welcome twist this year," said Mrs. Farrell.
"My favorite part was the racing part," said Harper. "It was exciting to see a can roll and see how it worked out."
"It was cool to see what worked and what didn't work," said Charlie.
3rd grader Dominique Barrist especially enjoyed "everyone getting excited and everyone cheering for all of our friends."
Derby Day took place during Spirit Week in the Competition Gym on Wednesday, November 8.
Last year's all-school build was a Cardboard Challenge where students designed and built games out of recycled materials. Plans are already in the works for next year's all-school build. The assignment? "You will have to wait and see," said Mrs. Farrell.
Click here to watch video from the event.