Competition teaching students life & STEM skills
Beyond exercising science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, students at Frontier STEM High School in Kansas City are learning practical life skills. Ninth- and 10th-grade Solar Panthers are problem-solving as they build a solar-powered car. Their objective: to compete against other teams in the 22nd annual Solar Car Challenge.
“There are many things that fail during the project. The students don’t just stop working on it; they need to come up with solutions, which is very applicable in real life,” says Azat Ovezov, the chemistry teacher leading the team’s competition car-building.
The Solar Panthers work on their car, the “Panther” outside normal school hours on alternating weekdays and periodically on sunny weekends to test the solar charging system. They’re ahead of schedule and anticipate finishing the Panther early enough to allow at least a month for vehicle testing.
“At this point, I’m optimistic,” Ovezov says. “The body is built; the systems which make the car go and all the wiring is completed; the Panthers have started focusing on the electrical system and on auxiliary systems. When the sun comes, that will be our testing time to see which part fails first. That will be our weak point, and we will focus on that.”
This is the second consecutive year for Frontier STEM High School in Kansas City to participate in the national solar car competition. So far, the Solar Panthers are the only entrants from Missouri or Kansas. A total of 48 teams from high schools nationwide have registered. March 1 is the deadline.
The Solar Car Challenge is a Texas-based nonprofit dedicated to motivating high school students in science, engineering and math and promoting interest in alternative energy. The Challenge is a closed-track event or cross-country race in alternating years. Last year, the competition was a 786-mile race from Texas to Minnesota. This year, it’s a closed-track event at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Members of the Solar Panthers will participate in opening events on July 13 and stay through the Solar Car Challenge awards banquet on July 22. They plan to rent a U-Haul truck to transport their solar car.
“When we get closer, we’ll see how many on the team will go,” Ovezov says, adding, “I want to take at least six (of the eight Solar Panthers). It’s a good opportunity for them.”
This will be the first Solar Car Challenge for Ovezov and the two girls and six boys who make up his team. The competition is a multidisciplinary activity offering math, physics and engineering with real-life, broad-based practical application, Ovezov says.
“The purpose of this project is to engage students in science engineering and alternative energy and technology so we are teaching them many things, which they will use in their daily lives,” he says.
An example of such creative problem-solving with real-life application stymied the Solar Panthers for over a month. The chain connecting the motor to the drive wheel kept popping. The Panthers persisted, experimenting with a chain tensioner and different gears on the axle and finally came up with a direct ratio.
“It was very exciting to watch,” Ovezov says. “At first the students were discouraged, but they kept going. In fixing the problem, they learned and gained encouragement.”
Pictured are (left to right): Mauro Martinez (in the car), Aziz Erdogan, Jesus Ramirez, Annie Nguyen, Alexandra Webster, Christopher Arriola and Jordan Jones.
