Year 7 Science

Mousetrap cars

During Term 3 the Year 7 students have been busy learning about forces in the physics unit. They have examined different forces such as gravity and friction, and this has culminated in using their knowledge of forces to design a model car that uses a mousetrap as its primary propulsion system. The aim of each design was to build a car that could cover a great distance, or could achieve a high speed.

The students needed to consider issues such as how to achieve just the right amount of friction between the wheels and the ground, how to achieve the right amount of mass in the car so it wasn’t too heavy or too light, and how to best transfer the force of the mousetrap to the axle so the car could be propelled forward.

This type of activity gives the students the chance to put theory into practice and examine how forces act on real work objects – many students regularly comment that designing and building their mousetrap cars is one of their favourite activities of the year.

Well-done to all the students who were able to create a design that utilised their understanding of forces in a way that allowed their car to travel a great distance quickly.

As we draw near to the end of the year I would also like to wish the Unit 3 & 4 Science students well on their final march towards their exams – it is clear from the number of VCE Science classes we have at St Bede’s in 2018 that Science remains highly popular amongst our boys. Thank you to all of the Science teaching staff who are busy preparing their students for their exams, or have taught those students at any stage over their 6 year journey at St. Bede’s. I am sure that many of our VCE Science students will achieve success in their exams and we wish them well.

Mr Brendan Fordham 

Science LAL