Student Worksheet

Lego Car Design - Activity Introduction

If you build a LEGO car it won’t be able to move unless a force (a push or a pull) is acting upon it. This could be you pushing it along or putting it on top of a slope and letting it roll down. Another way you can get a car to move is by using wind force, which is made when a balloon loses its air and pushes the car along the ground.

Step 1.

Use your LEGO or connecting bricks to build a car. Add four wheels to the bottom of the car.

Step 2.

Ask your parent/caregiver to help you put the arch brick on the back of your car and put the blown up balloon through the arch. To help them do this they can watch this video:

3 Awesome LEGO Learning Activities - Balloon Cars (1.46 - 2.20) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRUuLbaO1g4)

Step 3.

Put a marker on the floor so you know where your car is going to start. This could be a pencil or piece of string. If the weather is nice, go outside and find a flat path to try it out.

Step 4.

Let the balloon go on the marker and see how far your car goes! Ask your parent/caregiver to show you how you can use a tape measure to see how far your car went. If you don’t have one, why don’t you use your feet, placing your feet carefully one in front of the other and count how many feet it travelled.

Step 5.

If your car didn’t work, don’t give up! Part of being a designer is that sometimes your design won’t work. Ask yourself, what can you change to get the car to work? Maybe you need a different way of using the balloon or maybe try it on a different floor.

Taking It Further

Can you think of ways to get your car to move further? Maybe you can make a bigger car, a smaller car or a different design. Perhaps you could try a different balloon or blow it up more! Will your car go further if you put it on a different surface? Maybe you can find a slope and let the balloon car go at the top of the slope! Don’t forget to measure how far it goes with a tape measure or your feet.

Lego Car Design (home learning)

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