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A block of balsa wood, a set of wheels, and a canister of carbon dioxide. That is all Alex Arceo and his fellow 7th and 8th Grade Gear Up classmates needed—along with their ingenuity—as they prepared for race day! Designing and building their CO2 cars for ultimate speed meant a lot of research and time spent learning about aerodynamics and physics. The students’ efforts and learnings were put to the test on tournament day as they raced their cars in the Royal Middle School gym before students left for winter break.
.jpg "RMS student Alex Arceo poses as the winner of the competition")
What better way to learn? According to Mr. Miller, 8th Grade Science Teacher and Gear Up Advisor, his philosophy is “the more opportunities we give students with HANDS ON projects the more they will learn!” In starting up this new project and competition, Miller says his goal was to give the students opportunities to experience design, to find out how things work, and to discover that sometimes we must go back to the drawing board to design or build things better.
Congratulations to all the ingenious students who worked so hard designing, building, and racing their cars, and to Mr. Miller for creating such an engaging and exciting learning opportunity.
Check out all of the photos and video from the race on our Royal Facebook page HERE.
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is sponsored by the University of Washington as part of a national effort to help students prepare for and succeed in higher education as well as their future careers. For more information on the program at our school, visit the Gear Up page on our website.