DA Celebrates STEM Week

Last week, Denver Academy celebrated STEM Week with a variety of STEM-based activities, including an egg drop, coding challenges, and more. A highlight of the week was the first International Jr. Solar Sprint Race. Star innovators and engineers from DA and Universal American School (UAS) in Dubai competed against each other from across the world. Learners designed and engineered solar model cars to race under the sun on their respective sides of the planet. American and International races took place over a 24-hour period at DA and UAS, while teachers verified and uploaded race times to the International Jr. Solar Sprint Race Leader Board. Race teams competed for a highly coveted pizza party for the team with the fastest car. Race participants were thrilled that Stefan Wilson, Professional Indy 500 race car driver, endorsed the race and cheered on student innovators over social media. To the best of the organizers’ knowledge, this was the first-ever international school solar sprint race.

 

After hours of designing, building, testing, refining, and making improvements to their solar model cars over two weeks, the 8th and 9th grade teams ran a close race with the winning time going to Denver Academy 9th grade student, Emily Morrissey. Emily's car, called "The Car Gang", was a well balanced, solid design. The angle of the solar panel was slightly higher than most other cars which allowed it to face more directly towards the sun. “The solar challenge was so much fun,” Emily said. “We spent almost a week fine-tuning our cars and the race day was a blast, especially since we had to wait in suspense for the Dubai teams to race due to the time difference. Everyone worked really hard and deserves to recognized - I just can't believe I won!”

 

According to UAS Teacher Mr. Hall, “UAS 8th grade students gave it their all, with the top racers in Dubai finishing within 0.34 seconds of the fastest team from Denver. This race helped my students understand that even the slightest improvement can make a difference in an engineering outcome.”

 

Denver Academy Teacher Mr. Brookhart stated, “This year’s international solar challenge was an invaluable opportunity for our students at Denver Academy. The hands-on learning of the entire process, from design, engineering, and problem-solving offered the kids a real-life experience with the added excitement of competition. Collaborating with the Universal American School in Dubai only added to the excitement and friendly competition. We look forward to many more years of international competitions.”

 

The International Jr. Solar Sprint Race is inspired by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) Model Car Competitions for:

For more information, visit: www.nrel.gov.

To view photos from STEM Week and videos of the solar car races, click here.