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25 August 2016

By Ada Hand, Year 6, School Captain, St Aloysius School, Queenscliff St Aloysius students in the Fast Cars in Schools program at Queenscliff Town Hall

In the last three terms we had been doing Fast Cars in Schools, which is a project about Formula One (F1) vehicles.

We were put into teams of four or five. In the teams we had the Team Leader, Graphic Designer, Public Relations (PR) person, Team Presenter and The Lead Engineer. I was the PR person but changed to the Presenter. Our team is called Hennessy Poison.

During science we were learning about how the fast cars work and learnt the science behind it. Here is some of what our team learnt:

CO2 is a colourless, odourless gas called carbon dioxide. The car has a CO2 canister on the back, which pushes it forward. Drag can be a good and bad thing. Drag is the wind resistance that forces the car back. If there is less drag it means faster speed. Lots of drag means slower speed. Lift and force have similar effects. Usually ‘lift’ needs to be removed from an F1 car because the driver's life depends on it. Aerodynamics and drag play a huge role in F1 car races. The speed of the car is dependant on the fuel, aerodynamics and car weight.

We had a Fast Cars Heat Day, which was at the Queenscliff Town Hall. We also got sponsors. My team was sponsored by the local ice cream shop who gave us $30 to spend on merchandise for advertising. We spent it on lollies and paid the printing company who printed out flags for us. Our team won Best Poster Design and will go onto the next round.’

Fast Cars in Schools is a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) initiative aimed at engaging Geelong Regional school children in Engineering, Design, Technology and Science. It is sponsored by Catholic Education Melbourne and supported by CADET (Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training) at Deakin University, Waurn Ponds Campus.

For further information contact: Nicole Sadler, Science Leader, St Aloysius Primary School or Shelley Waldon, Project Officer – Learning and Teaching (Science and Innovation) , Catholic Education Melbourne.