Plains students combine science knowledge with shop class

It's not rocket science, it's not even science class, but science is helping the eighth-graders of Plains Junior High School with their projects in shop class.

The 10 girls and four boys in the class started working on their wooden cars last week and will probably be competing in the annual "CO2 Drag Race" at the end of this week in the new gymnasium.

It's all part of Kyle Mitchell's Technical  Education Shop Class and the purpose of the class is to teach the kids a mixture of mathematics, woodworking and science, but tossing in a little competitiveness and fun to the mixture. This is the 10th year that he has had the kids make the cars and every year he sees ingenuity and imagination.

Matthew Thurston's car is being fashioned like a baseball bat. Jackson Lecky's vehicle is a bird. He considered a goose, but his parents suggested the roadrunner and he's going with the number seven because it's one of his three luckiest numbers. Emelia Rivinius is making her car look like a condiment from the fast food chain Chick-fil-A. She even gave her car the number three because that's her favorite order number at Chick-fil-A. Aubrey Larsen is making her car look like a box of toothpaste. "I was going to do a tube of toothpaste, but this was more simple," said the 14-year-old Larsen.

Some are getting into a competitive mode, like Westin Wagoner, who hollowed out some of the car. "I want it to be lighter, so it will go a lot faster," said Wagoner. Hunter Bradley, who's making a dragster truck, saw Wagoner hollow his car and decided to do the same. Bradley is fashioning his vehicle after the drag truck of Ken Block.

"It is crazy to see how ideas grow from one student to another," said Mitchell, who's only had one other student in the last 10 years hollow a car, even though he shows an example of the process each class. "It takes more time, but can drastically lower the mass of the car, which increases the speed of the car," he said. Even their painting schemes are unique. Kaylee Morkert's car is a variety of circles, which she said portrays the '80s vibes.

However, there were a few who weren't concerned about crossing the finish line first. "I don't plan on winning because mine's really heavy, but I like the design," said 13-year-old Ava Lawyer, who's creating a "Lightning McQueen" vehicle from the animated film "Cars."

Winning wasn't the top priority for Karlee Huffman, 13, who had the shortest car, which was a fraction of an inch over the minimum. Huffman is making a "unicorn baby" in honor of her youngest sister, 6-year-old Violet. She plans to paint her project white, blue and pink with a purple mane and a gold horn.

The class is about three weeks long. The students create their cars out of a foot-long piece of basswood. Once they get a design and paint their cars, they install the metal axles and plastic wheels. The cars had a hole at the rear for the CO2 cartridge. The cars range from a minimum of 7 5/8 to 12 inches long and can be anywhere from a half an inch wide to 1 5/8 and can weigh no less than 40 grams. The cars will have two eye lifts on the bottom to hold  fishing line, which is used to keep the cars on a straight line on the track during the race. 

"In the age of smart phones and Google, some students have difficulty without instant gratification. Some students have difficulty with independent thinking and need to learn from failure," said Mitchell. He said that it's also important that they learn not to quit if something doesn't work like they thought it would. "They need to learn how to fix things and learn from their mistakes."

The hands-on aspect of building the cars reiterates what they've learned in the classroom lectures. "The CO2 dragster lesson helps to illustrate how lessons taught in other classes, such as science, math, art, and English are utilized in shop classes," said Mitchell, a teacher for more than 25 years. He said the students start by designing their cars on paper before doing any cutting or shaping their projects. 

"With this project, the students explore concepts such as thrust, mass, friction, aerodynamic, design, and measurements. With every project I try to teach them problem solving skills and perseverance," he said. The project generally takes about a month of class time and at the end they will participate in a double elimination tournament where students race head-to-head in the gym. 

"These classes are rewarding to teach because it is fun to teach students skills they could use for the rest of their lives. These classes also expose them to opportunities they might never see otherwise," he said. Mitchell said that several of his students have pursued a career or education in welding, computer aided design, carpentry, and other skilled trades that they were first exposed to in his classes. "It is very rewarding to see these students succeed in a career that they are proud of."