Students work in teams to design a vehicle powered by the air escaping from a balloon. Students are given free reign as to the design of their vehicle and have the opportunity to analyze their design between trial runs. The only power source allowed is the air released from one balloon. The vehicle must be self-propelled it may not be thrown, pulled, pushed, shot, etc. Students should be encouraged to put effort into making their vehicle unique and attractive, with a clever design and interesting use of the materials.
Teams work together to design their vehicle.
Each vehicle should receive a name. The target balloon should be located under the line, but not touching it. Students teams should be given one trial run and then two attempts to break the target balloon. Encourage teams to modify their design between attempts to solve any design problems and to improve performance.