Junior Solar Sprint - A Model Solar Car Competition for Middle School Students Grades: 5-8 (Ages 10 – 14)

The Women at Work Museum in Attleboro was pleased to announce that two teams sponsored by the Museum competed at the 11th annual Northeast Regional Junior Solar Sprint Championship (NRJSSC) on Sunday, June 8, 2008 in Springfield, MA. They competed against top performing teams from 20 other area races across the Northeast.

Every year, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) invites top winners from local Sprint races across the Northeast to compete at this growing regional championship.  Over 100 teams competed.  The competing teams were from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Maryland-Washington, D.C. area.

Team Bobcat 08 and Team Cube Car were able to make the semi-finals.  The Team Bobcat 08 members were Madison Benoit of Mansfield, Joel Desmariais of Attleboro, Treuvor Hobwinksky of North Attleboro, and Kyra Boucher of Plainville.  Team Cube Car members were Logan Boucher and Kyra Boucher of Plainville.

The Junior Solar Sprint is a science and engineering project that encourages students to develop a deeper understanding of physical science and engineering, including specific concepts like efficiency, electric motors and renewable energy.

Students have to utilize math, engineering and science in order to create their cars and many of these children would tell you that trial and error is a great learning tool.  There were some surprising successes as well as spectacular attempts at being innovative that didn’t work as well as perhaps the student had hoped, but it was all still valuable in figuring out what would ultimately work.  “Its about working as a team and problem-solving,” explains Bill Fasulo, Museum Project coordinator, “They compete in a friendly way and learn.”

Originally started by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the early 1990s, the project has grown each year throughout the Northeast states, with well over 100,000 students participating.

Teams competed for top awards in Innovation, Craftsmanship, Technical Merit, and Speed. One team will be honored as the Grand Champion, while another will earn the Kid's Choice award. NESEA formally recognizes the work all students have put into their solar cars and each student receives a free lunch and a keepsake T-shirt.