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From blueprints to racing Inualthuyak School students design and build model race cars
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 3, 2013
IKAAHUK/SACHS HARBOUR
Students at Inualthuyak School in Sachs Harbour now know everything they need to build their own race car, thanks to a program delivered last month.
"First we made blueprints on the computer before we made them," said Grade 9 student Albert Kaslak. "Then after we were done, we modeled our race cars and tested them."
Building the cars was part of the Beaufort Delta Education Council's career and technology studies program, said Austin Abbott, the council's skills program co-ordinator.
Abbott travelled to Sachs Harbour to instruct the activity, which included teaching students how to use AutoSketch, a computer-aided design software (CAD) program.
Students then built scale models and constructed a race car out of Styrofoam.
Abbott said students caught on quick.
"I taught them the functions of the program," he said. "They got very, very proficient with it very quickly."
Grade 9 student Corey Esau said he is proud of the car he made with his teammates.
"Mine was the best," he said.
Esau said after the design phase was over and construction began, he had to make sure his race car perfectly followed the dimensions outlined in the design.
"I learned how to design anything on the computer and then I learned how to build it," he said. "We made measurements, we put them on the computer and we printed them. We made them the exact same as how we designed them."
Abbott said he checked each car to make sure students were following their design plans.
"I took each one to make sure the dimensions on the drawings matched the actual car," he said.
The gym was turned into a testing facility where students raced their cars to see how far they would go, said principal Terry Davidson.
"There were about six or seven constructed," he said. "We made a ramp in the gym and then we simply released the cars at the top of the ramp. We were looking for distance."
After testing a few times, students were able to make improvements.
"They were able to change the positions of axles, the size and placement of wheels," Davidson said. "They were able to make the cars go faster and, particularly, straighter."
The activity was intended for students in grades 7, 8 and 9, but it soon became popular throughout the school, he added.
"We incorporated a couple kids from younger grades," he said.
Esau took the lesson a step further and placed his iPod in his car.
"I just cut a slit on the car and I put my iPod in and I recorded it," he said. "I made a couple of them."
Abbott said because of the iPod's placement in the vehicle, the effect was as though someone sitting in the car's front seat shot the video.
"When it went down the ramp, it was recording as if you were actually sitting in the car. That was amazing," he said. "The one that he was using was faster, so it overtook the one in front. It was so neat to see him pass the other car. It was the same as if you were sitting in a race car. I was so impressed."
Abbott said the activity was a great hands-on lesson.
"The kids here, I can tell you, they love working with their hands. They really enjoy it," he said.
"It's such a nice change for them instead of just academics."
He also said the activity taught students the importance of planning, as well as identifying the steps needed to complete projects, such as keeping material lists and cost estimates.
"I think they realize now in actually making something or building something, there is a process you have to follow," he said. "Pre-planning is extremely important."
Esau said he now realizes how much work it takes to complete a design from start to finish.
"I learned it takes a lot to design cars," he said. "We had to remember to do all the measurements."
While Abbott said the goal of the activity is to teach new skills, making sure fun also plays a role. That goes for both students and teachers, he added.
"I think I enjoy it probably more than any of the kids, and they really enjoyed it, I tell you," he said.
Abbott said he hopes to return to Sachs Harbour in the fall and teach students how to build their own sleds, which they have already begun to design.
"They did a marvelous job," he said. "Hopefully next time I get in we'll actually get them to build those sleds. It's a lot of fun."
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