Alpha science classroom: DIY a Wind-Powered Car

Sails are very important when the dock wants to drive in the vast ocean. Children must have seen the wonderful, simple, and beautiful sailboats on the beach. But children rarely see cars driven by sails in their lives. Today, the alpha science classroom and children are conducting a special kid's science experiment activity, DIY a Wind-Powered Car together, exploring the mysteries of wind and physical science and becoming the most powerful automotive engineer.

Alpha science classroom: DIY a Wind-Powered Car Materials

• Corrugated cardboard

• Construction paper or cardstock

• Three wooden skewers

• Two plastic straws

• Four plastic bottle caps

• Tape

• Scissors

• Hobby knife

• Fan

• Long hallway or large room (smooth floors work best)

• Adult helper

Alpha science classroom: DIY a Wind-Powered Car Materials Production pace

Step 1: The children carefully cut out a piece of cardboard to form the car's body. Tape two straws to the bottom of the car, one at each end. Make sure the straws are parallel.

Step 2: The children ask adults to use an amateur knife to carefully poke a "+"-shaped hole in the center of each bottle cap. Pass a wooden fork through the hole in one of the bottle caps (please push it away, don't hurt your face!).

Step 3: The children pass the other end of a string through a straw. Push one cap onto the end of the string opposite the first cap. The children just made the axle with two wheels for the car! Repeat these steps to make another axle.

Step 4: Children make sure that the axle can rotate and the car can roll smoothly without getting stuck. If necessary, adjust the wheels to prevent them from shaking. Ask an adult to use an amateur knife to carefully poke a small hole in the middle of the cardboard.

Step 5: The children insert a wooden string-shaped column into the hole to form a mast for car navigation. Use plenty of tapes to fix it to the base. If it is still unstable, you can use a piece of cardboard to make diagonal supports.

Step 6: Children make at least three sails of the same shape but different sizes. For example, for a rectangular sail, children can use a whole sheet of paper, half of the paper, and a quarter of the paper.

Now the children are ready to test the sail car and sail!

Alpha Science Classroom: Observations and Results of DIY Wind Cars

The alpha science classroom believes that children have seen that with the smallest sail, your car starts very slowly. The wind exerts a small amount of force on the small sail, so it may be difficult to overcome the friction in the axle, so the car can start driving. The car will start at a faster speed and sail farther with larger sails. However, a larger sail may reduce revenue. Ultimately, the excess air that the sail can capture cannot make up for all the added weight of the sail, so continuing to increase the size of the sail will not make the car go further.

Hi my children, please take the DIY Wind-Powered Car you made and let them run with the wind outdoors! Alpha science classroom hopes that this simple science experiment could help children learn knowledge. Through this simple physical science experiment, children could understand the movement of objects and make their own wind energy cars.

Children who want to get more interesting knowledge about physical science experiments, please go to alpha science toys to choose the best physical science experiment kit and explore more physical science mysteries!