Mouse Trap Car Project:
Performance Task:
Create a Mouse Trap car using a standard (unaltered) mouse trap, that will travel the fastest and/or farthest in the hallway outside of our classroom.
Topical Questions:
What variables are most significant in the speed or distance performance of the car?How are the acceleration and velocity of a mousetrap car related?
Materials:
One standard Mouse Trap, unaltered. Only the mousetrap is allowed to provide potential energy (forward thrust) for the car.Other materials are of your choice.All materials are to be provided by you or your team mates.
Cars will be built in teams of three. Each team will have a Designer, and Engineer and a Marketing Agent. Each team member will have primary responsibility for certain aspects of the project, however, every member is expected to participate, in some way. On every aspect of the project. Ther will be peer evaluations.
The Designer is primarily responsible for the Design Diagram, and the Construction Log for the team.
The Engineer is primarily responsible for Testing the car, and providing a Table of Data for the team.
The Marketing Agent is primarily responsible for a Research Report and a Presientation of the groups discoveries and experience.
Each team member will provide a one page paper explaining (in their opinion) what variables were most significant in the perfomance of their car, and providing suggestions on improvement.
Scoring for Mouse Trap Car Project:
Research Report: A one page synopsis of research done prior to assembly of the car. The report must list a minimum of three sources and give a detailed description of information that was found (15 points for the Marketing Agent)
Design Diagram: A scale drawing of you prospective car including a top view, side view, and front view. Dimensions and materials need to be labled. Also, any special design aspects should be emphisized. (15 points for the Designer)
Test Drive: Organize and execute all the testing details including (but not restricted to) functionality of the car and collecting data on time, speed and distance. There will be two test runs. (15 points for the Engineer)
Construction Log: A journal of the entire process from research to completion of the test drives. Dates with notes of method and progress need to be included. Be sure to indicate work time for each person. (30 points for the Designer0
Table of Data : A poster with an accurate display of the test drive results including distance, average velocity, instantaneous velocity and acceleration for four given intervals. This poster will be displayed in the classroom. (30 points for the Engineer)
Presentation: This can either be a written report or a powerpoint presentation. All of the above information is to be persented in a professional format that is easily viewed and understood by the class. Needs to include the test drive data, a description of the research/assembly process, at least three pictures or diagrams to enhance presentation, a description of changes or adjustments made during construction, and ideas for improvement. (30 points for Marketing Agent)
Peer Evaluations: This is where each member of the team evaluates the contributions of their peers. Though the Primary Person responsible recieves the grade for a given part of the project he or she evaluates their peers on a 5 point scale according to their contributions. Every member needs to contribute, in some way, to every part of the project. (15 points for each team member)
Topical Question Report: Each team member will provide a one page papeer explaining ( in their opinion) what variables were most significant in the performance of their car, and providing suggestions on improvement. (10 point each team member)