How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

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Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? Some added batteries to make them go faster!

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

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What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? Students enjoyed this topic.

“My students really enjoyed making the solar cars. They were challenging for some students, but most of them coped well making them. We had a big racing competition when they were finished, and we modified them to make them better,”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? Angled solar panels, weighted body with bluetack, modified track, and lighter vehicles

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

A little helpful

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Very helpful

What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? They enjoyed doing it and went home to talk to their families about it, the girls in the class actually became very competitive and won overall. I had a few parents who were asked by their kids to come in to see their vehicles.

“The Solar Cars kit was a great way for students to experience first hand the learning they had done prior on physics. The way it was created allowed for students to work collaboratively, and although it looked like it was simple, there were areas that challenged the students. Putting the car together meant really thinking about how the gears worked and how to make sure there were strong connections. They were able to adapt their cars and realised that uneven weight distribution or ill fitted wheels, made their car not go straight. The organic way that they had to deal with these challenges as they cropped up was brilliant, as they all experienced these differently and there were rich class conversations, which led off into other areas. The final race and trophies were an amazing finishing touch.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? There were a range of innovations. However, most students moved the solar panel to a more stable position that caught the winter sun at a better angle.

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

A little helpful

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Very helpful

What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? Students loved building the cars and racing them. It really was a fun and authentic way to see problem solving solutions in practice when cars wouldn't travel very far. Students did get a little bored with so much content of knowledge.

“Solar Cars is a great hands on way to learn about Force and Motion. The material provided by School Kit is helpful and thorough. Students loved building their Solar Car! It provided a learning opportunity for students to problem solve when they needed to think about why their car was not going, or how to improve it's performance. This is really where the learning was! Our only hurdle was doing this unit in Term 2, when there didn't seem to be many days of sunshine so our time outside was limited.”

Helpful Report

Posted 9 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? With gusto! They had so many ideas that were discussed in depth in their groups before they came to an agreement about their next steps and then attempted them. They attempted streamlining, taking off what they deamed to be unnecessary materials/parts. They wanted to know how they could join two solar pannels together and looked into how solar pannels could be connected and then placed on the car in a way that was angled for the sun and did not add wind resistance.

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

A little helpful

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Very helpful

What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? The students absolutely loved this awesome experience. They were all keen to share their learning at our whole school assembly. We had our Student Led Conferences during this unit of work and every child wanted to have their groups car as evidence of their learning. Many of the parents who came in the evening and could not see the car demonstated were very eager to have the cars come home so they could see them work. We looked at kits that can be bought online as many of the chn wanted to try another design.

“Aakonga were fully engaged and excited to participate in this amazing opportunity. They asked really great questions, wanted to investigate and find out more about the ideas they were coming up with. The instructions/videos/information were extremely detailed and were organised in a really helpful and easy to access way.”

Helpful Report

Posted 10 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? Mostly we worked on getting the cars to work! Some students managed to add more weight and set up challenges such as inclines and jumps to see if they could get the cars over them.

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

A little helpful

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Very helpful

What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? Students enjoyed the hands on learning and particularly liked watching the heat wrap shrink.

“Students enjoyed building these cars - found it tricky stripping wires but got there in the end. Some cars didnt work which students found frustrating but led to some great problem solving conversations.”

Helpful Report

Posted 10 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? Students approached the car modification challenge with creativity, experimenting with panel angles, wheel grip, weight balance, and even adding features like spoilers to improve speed and stability.

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

A little helpful

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What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? Students loved the hands-on, creative experience, and parents noted it sparked engaging conversations at home about renewable energy and engineering.

How did the activity help students make connections between circuit theory and real-world applications? The activity helped students see how circuit theory works in real life by showing how solar panels, motors, and connections directly power their cars, linking abstract concepts to a tangible, moving model.

“The School Kit Solar Cars were a fantastic hands on resource for our students. The instructions were clear, the materials were easy to assemble, and the students were genuinely excited to see their cars powered by the sun. It was a great way to explore renewable energy and STEM concepts in a fun, practical way.”

Helpful Report

Posted 11 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? We didn't get to this.

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

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Very helpful

What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? None

How did the activity help students make connections between circuit theory and real-world applications? -

“Students enjoyed the learning and then being able to make the cars.”

Helpful Report

Posted 11 months ago

How successful was this kit in allowing the exploration of energy transformation in your learners?

Not Successful At All

Neutral

Very Successful

How did students approach the car modification challenge, and what innovative solutions did they come up with? We did not quite get to this aspect

How did the test-modify-repeat cycle impact students' understanding of the engineering design process?

A little helpful

Somewhat helpful

Very helpful

What feedback have you received from students or parents about the learning in this kit? The kids loved being able to make something that actually moved.

How did the activity help students make connections between circuit theory and real-world applications? Hands on learning and interactive

“Our class of year 3/4 learners really enjoyed this kit. We had some fun becoming scientists and figuring out why some cars went backwards, and exploring problem solving of why some parts did not work.”

Helpful Report

Posted 11 months ago

Solar Cars 24 Reviews