What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? Assemble, customize, race

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

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One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? This is awesome - can we do more of these activities.

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? I crammed this into a few weeks and it would have been beneficial for my class and I to work on this over the term and with the team, so we could all race them at the end together. The kit showed and explored the energy transformation clearly to the children.

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“Our students really enjoyed the Waipa Solar Racing Car Kit — it was a great hands-on way to assemble, customize, and race while exploring solar energy, energy transfer, and renewable resources. The kits were engaging and age-appropriate for our 10-year-olds to build. While the activities were fun and interactive, we didn’t dive as deeply into the learning as we could have. I found the planning a little difficult to follow and would have preferred a clear, step-by-step slide set with resources more specifically tailored to this age group. Overall, it was a valuable and enjoyable learning experience, and one I would highly recommend.”

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Posted 2 months ago

What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? hands-on, challege, thinkink

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

Already well versed

Somewhat useful

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One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? If we don't look after this planet we are in big trouble!

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? It showed children how natural resources can be harnessed for new technology

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“This was an awesome unit that we did with our Year 3/4 team. Yes it was challenging to put the cars together but we saw some great team work and the excitement levels were next level! We have had feedback from parents about how eager their children were to go home and share their learning and being able to take home their cars was the icing on the cake. The technological learning behind this activity was great from a teacher standpoint and we are looking into how we can continue our learning for our younger students heading into next year. Thanks Waipa Networks!”

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Posted 2 months ago

What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? Engaging, innovative, cooperative

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

Already well versed

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One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? Lots of 'no no no, let's try this'. So good to have kids cooperating, communicating, and compromising!!

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? It was a great way to explore Newton's Laws and use them.

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“Room 6 LOVED the solar cars. We spent a lot of time problem solving and adapting our designs to make our cars go faster. Putting Newton's laws in action was so much fun!!”

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Posted 3 months ago

What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? Engaging, educational, purposeful

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

Already well versed

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One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? Can I add...? (we were covering innovation)

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? Students understood the concepts and then were able to apply other learning to try and improve the power in the cars performance. There was a lot of trial and error. Some students broke their cars because they added too much power and then had to reconstruct and reinforce their cars. This was excellent learning.

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“My students absolutely loved this kit. The boys were highly engaged and spent a lot of their own time innovating their cars to improve their performance. I would do this activity every year if I could. Highly recommend!!”

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Posted 3 months ago

What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? Innovative, problem-solving, joyous

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

Already well versed

Somewhat useful

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One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? "How did you make it do that? Can you show me?"

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? Students could clearly see how light energy from the sun was captured by the solar panel, transformed into electrical energy, and then into kinetic energy as the motor powered the wheels. Because the cars were initially slow, students were encouraged to experiment with design modifications, deepening their understanding of efficiency, energy loss, and how energy transformations can be optimised in real-world contexts.

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“The Waipa Solar Kits were a valuable addition to our Year 7/8 innovation inquiry. Each kit included a wooden chassis, motor, and solar panel, and was straightforward for students to assemble. The class thoroughly enjoyed constructing the cars and racing them, especially experimenting with modifications to improve speed and performance. While the cars were slow initially, this encouraged problem-solving. I would definitely use these kits again, though clearer guidance on enhancement methods would be beneficial.”

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Posted 3 months ago

What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? Engaging, challenging, fun.

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

Already well versed

Somewhat useful

Very useful

One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? I cannot remember verbatim - but cranks, shafts balance, weight etc. Lots of discussion as students made their car, and then when they made changes to it.

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? Visual of solar/potential into mechanical.

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“This was a wonderful kit to receive. It fitted in with our Innovation unit, made planning easy and had kids learning, talking and really working through that inquiry process. We had more than enough cars - so every student was engaged. We would not have had this opportunity if it we had to pay for it - so thank you so much!”

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Posted 3 months ago

What are three words that describe the activities in this kit? Creative, thinker, inspiring

Did you find the lessons on solar energy useful in improving the students understanding and interest in renewable energy?

Already well versed

Somewhat useful

Very useful

One of the aims of Waipā Networks was to provide enough material for every student to have a hands-on learning experience. Do you feel this was achieved? Yes

What’s a sentence you heard in your classroom that would help us understand the type of learning that was taking place? What would happen if I attached another solar panel to my car?

How did this kit allow the exploration of energy transformation for your learners? Understanding how the power made the wheels on the car turn. Looking at how solar panels work on a house.

“Waipā solar cars was a brilliant teaching resource. The student learn how to work cooperatively whilst constructing the car. They were able to study and understand how solar power works. Making adjustments to the finished cars gave the students the opportunity to showcase their learning around what increases the speed of a car.”

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Posted 4 months ago

Waipā Solar Cars 25 Reviews