EDUC1231 Kade Ellis 32008451

‘Solar Car Challenge’ Year 6 Design Brief

Introduction:

Motor vehicles play such an integral part to the lives of millions of Australians. Cars are used

by many Australians to get to work, go to the shops, visit friends or venture out on long road

trip. Australia is the 6th biggest country in the world measuring 7.692 million square

kilometers (Bonivento, 2019), so getting around without motor vehicles would be close to

impossible. There are almost as many vehicles on the road in Australia (14 million) as there

are adults (Bonivento, 2019) and the average Australian drives 14,000km a year. With around

14 million vehicles on the road, 182 billion kilometres are covered every year – enough to

travel to Pluto and back almost 20 times! (Bonivento, 2019).

With so many people relying on motor vehicles for modes of transport, what effect is this

having on our environment? Motor vehicle transport is Australia’s third largest source of

greenhouse gas emissions, with emissions from transport increasing nearly 60% since 1990

(Climate Council, 2017). Cars in particular are responsible for roughly half of all motor

vehicle emissions. Collectively, Australian cars emit roughly the same emissions per year as

Queensland’s entire coal and gas fired electricity supply (Climate Council, 2017). With so

many emissions being released into the atmosphere poses significant health risks to the

people of Australia as well as endangering our natural environment.

So, what can do to limit these emissions? Eliminating motor vehicles would not be a realistic

or viable option. The challenge for current and future world leaders is to electrify and power

motor vehicles with 100% renewable energy. Solar energy represents a clean, green source of

energy and is a great way to reduce emissions and your carbon footprint. There is nothing

about solar power that pollutes mother nature. Solar power also doesn’t release any

greenhouse gasses/emissions and is an easy path to contribute for a more sustainable future.
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Design Brief:

Solar power vehicles could be a common sight in the near future. Most likely in your lifetime,

we will be driving vehicles not powered by octane. In groups of 2 students are to design,

make, evaluate and race land-based vehicles powered by solar energy. Solar modules and

small electric motors will be the only materials provided to students.

Solar modules and small electric motors can be purchased from https://www.jaycar.com.au/

Generating Designs:

With their partners, students will research and find 3 examples of other solar powered

vehicles that have been designed and built. For each design idea, students will draw/label the

design and complete a plus, minus, interesting (PMI) for each design.

Project Specifications:

Vehicle must;

• Be made from entirely reusable materials.

• Be able to support the weight of the solar module and small electric motor.
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• Be able to fit in a shoebox.

Materials: What could be used?

• Cardboard milk • Bottle caps • Skewers

carton
• Film canister caps • Straws

• Water bottle
• Toy wheels

• Cardboard (K’nex etc)

• Foam board • Stiff wire

Not all supplies need to be used, only a guide to assist thinking

Project Management:

1. Students will be researching the key elements that are required to build a solar panel

vehicle. Handouts will be provided covering the following;

• Chassis: how to build the frame of the car

• Wheels and bearings: how to make wheels that turn

• Power source: how the solar panel and motor work

• Transmission: how to transfer power from the motor to the wheels

• Body shell: how the shell effects car performance

Each handout will be composed of four parts; purpose, ideas, concept and suggested

materials.

2. Students will then research and find 3 examples of other solar powered vehicles that

have been designed and built. For each design idea, students will draw/label the

design and complete a PMI for each design.

3. Students will then use previous design ideas and incorporate information obtained

from the handouts to generate 3 possible ideas of their own. Students will complete a

PMI for each of their own designs to narrow down to one final design.

4. Students now would have chosen a final design and will then label and illustrate their

final design. Along with this, students will also provide a justification of their chosen

design.

5. Students will list the steps of construction that are required in order to complete a

finished product. Here students will list tools and processes that may be used.

6. Students will then begin the construction and testing of their solar powered vehicle

with their partner.

Evaluation:

After racing their vehicles students will then evaluate the effectiveness of their finished

product. Students will take a photo of their finished product and answer questions such as;

“What worked well in your design?”

“What could have been done better?”

“Would/what would you change?”

“Did your vehicle meet the criteria?”

“What materials did you use?”

“Do you think solar powered vehicles could be used in the future?”

These questions will be provided to students by the teacher on a form of evaluation sheet.

This evaluation sheet can be used by the teacher to act as a summative (final) assessment. All

other work such a designs etc will be kept in a design brief booklet, again acting as a

summative assessment.

**All done in accordance with a marking rubric made available to students.

Throughout the duration of the 10 weeks, teacher will make anecdotal notes/observations of

student on-task behaviour/progress. This will act as a formative assessment made available to

students so that alterations to their learning can be made if required.

Presentation:

Prior to racing their cars, students with their partners will get up and show their finished

product to their peers. They will discuss things such as;

• Materials used and why they were used

• PMI about their final design

• Complications faced along the way

• Why they chose their design

• Key elements of their vehicle (chassis, wheels, power source, transmission and body

shell).
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Students will also have their picture taken (with their partner/car), which will have their

attached evaluation on the back. This will be hung up around the class for parents and other

visitors to see.

Winning pair will have the opportunity to share their design at the upcoming assembly,

highlighting how solar powered vehicles can contribute to a much more sustainable future.

Time:

This will be completed over a 10-week term, with 1-2 hours being allocated each week.

Rough Sequence of Lessons:

Lesson 1: Students will explore how energy is currently used in Australia (burning of coal)

and other alternatives that are more environmentally friendly/sustainable.

Lesson 2-4: Students will be paired up and begin planning the design of their solar powered

car. Students will also research the key components that make up a solar powered car.

Lesson 4-7: Having collected reusable resources from home students will now begin to

construct and test their solar powered cars.

Lesson 8-9: Students will now race their cars over two weeks. Students will be given a week

to make any modifications to their car before racing for a final time.

Lesson 10: Students will be provided with evaluation sheets to fill out and reflect on their

solar powered car. Wining car will be presented at assembly.