Reflection

There were many ideas that worked and hadn't worked during our balloon car project. Three ideas that didn't work well were that first Alexander and I had an idea to tape up the CD holes so only the small dowel could spin between the CD hole. This idea didn't work out so well because of the friction the tape put on the rolling of the dowels. Our second idea was to make only the CD's to roll instead of creating the dowels roll with the CD's. This caused the balloon car to roll slowly and not far. Our third idea that failed was when instead of using two smaller wheels up in front and two larger wheels in back. This turned our balloon upwards so that the balloon couldn't push the air pressure into the ground to cause it to roll. The first idea that did work with our project is to use a small light weight base so it wouldn't weigh down the wheels causing friction with the ground. The second idea that worked was when Alexander had the idea to put the dowels through a straw so that both the dowels and wheels could spin with a light amount of friction. The third great idea we had was when Alexander and I replaced our smaller wheel in front with two larger wheels on each end of the base. Our project was ready for launch and completed 25.7 meters the second run! The most valuable part of this project for me must have been learning how to use Newtons three laws to create a car to go as far as possible. It taught me what science really is about and how it's used in everyday activities such as throwing a football. Those were the good and bad ideas Alexander and I went through as a partnership.