Mousetrap Race Car

Mousetrap Race Car Challenge

I earned 9 achievements.

Achievements (by stage)

1. Design Stage: 

"Brainiac" - 10 ideas/concepts

• catapult
• use a tennis ball to propel forward
• barrier
• upside down
• lighter car (for better acceleration)
• heavier car (for better distance)
• minimize volume and mass
• use bands for traction
• attach popsicle stick or ruler to mouse trap
• use maximum amount of string allowed to get maximum distance

2. Build Stage:

"Build it" - build design, document with photo. 

"The Price of Glory"  - If each part you use costs $1, generate a total cost for your build.

• wheels  - $4
• axels - $2
• popsicle stick - $1
• string - $1
• black boxes - $6
• tape  - $1
• rest of the structure - $8
• TOTAL: $23

3. Test Stage: 

"Competitor" - Compete in  the mousetrap race car challenge.

We did compete in the race.

"Long-distance" - be the winner of the distance challenge.

We did not win or come in second place, but we did come in third. 

"Acceleration" - be the winner of the acceleration challenge.

Same as the distance challenge, we came in third place.

"Feedback" - collect feedback from yourself or a classmate.

+ : light car, the way we wrapped the string tightly enabled it to travel further.

change: we could probably have planned better because we had two previous ideas that failed.

?: should the wheels have had traction?

!: we could've used a pencil or axle instead of a popsicle stick because it wasn't very sturdy.

Iterate Stage:

"Re-work" - change your build based on your experience with feedback collected.

If we had realized earlier that our first two designs were not very efficient than we could've spent more time on perfecting our last design and maybe would've won either of the challenges.

"Game Changer" - develop a new rule or change to the game that you feel would make it better.

I think an interesting constraint would be having a limited number of parts to work with. Or only specific materials allowed. 

"Name it" - Invent a  name for an achievement that you think is better than what have currently.

Build with less!


Clean up stage: 

"Leave it cleaner than you found it" 

Yes, we left our workspace clean everyday. When there were extra pieces that we found in our workspace upon entering class, we put them all away. Also, we made sure to plug the computers in after we are finished using them even if they weren't previously plugged in.