The UT engineering students came to the Museum again, this time to race paper cars using marbles!

After building a car out of paper and attaching toy wheels, the UT students had the young engineers test the drag racers out. Each kid rolled a marble down a ramp and watched how far the racer travelled when the marble shot off the ramp and into a pocket built into the racer. The momentum from the marble pushed the drag racers forward! 

The students provided a task sheet with the engineering design process to get you thinking like an engineer as you design your marble drag racer. They also included some helpful hints to think about as you test your drag racer.

Does your racer move farther if you roll more than one marble? Do you think it would be easier for the racer to roll on tile floor or carpet floor? What about a racer with wheels and a racer with no wheels?

Race your cars with a friend and see whose drag racer goes the farthest!