Mousetrap Car Project

Extension Science-Construction Challenge
Aim: To design and build a car out of recycled materials that can travel further than 5 meters determined with different front wheel sizes.
Hypothesis: Using wheels that are light weight and made of plastic will allow our mousetrap car which is propelled by the force of the mousetrap being set off to travel further than 5 metres.
Materials:
• Mouse Trap
• Screws
• Washers
• “r” clips
• 2x Meccano wheels
• 2x CD’s
• Small white wheels
• Small black wheels
• Large white wheels
• Large black wheels
• Wooden rod
• Metal rod
• Rubber grommets
• Bobbin with string
• Plastic tube
• Super glue
• Wood
• Wire
Procedure:
1. A chosen design was researched and created with the recycled materials we collected.
A thin rectangular piece of wood was glued on top of the two long 25cm pieces of wood to keep stable and in line with each other.
4. The mousetrap was then screwed and glue onto the two long pieces of timber towards the front of the car.
5. A thin wooden rod was cut to 15cm long to be used as the back axle and a metal rod was cut to 11cm to be used as the front axle for the wheels.
6. Holes were drilled through the front and back of the long pieces of wooden timber for the axles. The holes were made slightly wider than the axles to give enough room for both axles to freely rotate.
7. Holes were drilled into each end of the metal axle for “r” clips to be used after measuring how much room was needed for the washers and the wheels. Four washers were placed on the axel on the inside of the wheel, and then the wheel and then another 2 washers were placed on the outside of the wheel. The “r” clip was then placed on to hold the washers and wheel on tightly of each wheel. The wheel needed to sit on tightly and not be wobbly.
8. A sewing bobbin was then placed between the two long pieces of timber at the back of the car and the wooden axle was pushed through the timber and the bobbin. The bobbin was super glued to the wooden axle so it would rotate the axle when the string was
We used screws, washer, super glue and “r” clips to hold things in place so the car could travel as smoothly as possible. Two Meccanno wheels and two CDs were used for the front and back wheels with the smaller Meccanno wheels being at the front. We used also tried 2 different sized wooden wheels at the front as we were not sure which wheels would work the best. We used a bobbin and string as that was what turned the wheels and made the car go forward. The string transfers the energy stored in the mouse trap to the wheels and helps it move. The string was attached to a 66cm piece of wire which was connected to the mouse trap. A metal rod was used for the front axle as the meccanno wheels were able to rotate easily on them and the wooden rod was used for the back axle as it made it easier for the CD’s to turn on. Rubber grommets where used to hold the CD’s in place and washer were used to hold the Meccanno wheels in place to help the car stay