The Balloon Cars On Wednesday, 15th December 1999 Year 6 took part in a Shell-sponsored technology workshop, constructing balloon-powered model cars. Lillo A man came to tell us how to make a balloon vehicle. After we listened to him we got into groups of 4. We had to make the body, which was a piece of wood cut into 3 bits. We stick it together by using a glue-gun, then we cut a straw in half and stuck it to each end. After we put the wheels on we fixed a balloon on and blew it up and let it go so the car could move... Donna   They were very hard to make. We started off by getting a stick of fine wood cut into 3 equal lengths to build out chassis, then we had to stick on our axle and bearing, which was a straw. Then we had to use the glue gun to put on the board, which had a small slit in it for the balloon neck and it was ready! I found making the cars easy, but it was very hard to improve the car when it didn't run along. Mr Chamberlaine helped me out and got it working. We then had our races, they were really funny because everyone's car kept on crashing into the others so no-one could go fast. On our official race, Lee came first. I don't think balloon-powered cars would be on the road in the future because no-one would like to be puffing the balloon up then having to run after it... Dhiren Dhiren We sawed the wood into 3 pieces and sanded them down so they were flat, then used a glue gun to put them together, using reinforcers to give more strength. These were triangular pieces of card... Lydia   The balloon vehicles were quite good but as it got on it got very boring. My favourite part was when we had to have a race, and the worst part was when we put the glue on the wood because I burnt myself a few times. I didn't like trying to use the straws because they were very fiddly trying to put them on with glue... Ryan Ryan It was practice for being an engineer, and we had to know the names of the thing to make , that was really hard. I enjoyed making them. At the end we got to take them home, but mine broke up... Florence Florence It was great fun , we built them and I had a go with them. My one skidded and then drove off again but then the wheels fell off... Thomas   Thomas It was fun but sometimes I got things wrong. The best thing about making the car was that at the end we got to test our cars by having a race... Stefi   We tried to make cars that would not let out any pollution when the car is running, so we made a car out of blocks of wood. We had a balloon... Billy Billy We made balloon cars to try and make cars work without spreading pollution, so we used a balloon for an engine... Charlotte   We made a petrol-free car. It was different and good fun. I'm not usually good at making cars but it was quite good, even though my balloon fell out. In real life I don't think a balloon vehicle would work very well because you would have to keep blowing it up and then you would have to run after it all the way down the road. It made me think what it would be like to be an engineer... Louise Louise We did this to try to power a car without using batteries or petrol... Jashesh   We had to make a chassis (body) out of a piece of wood stuck so that it made a capital I. We got a straw and a piece of dowel which made the axle and bearing, and got a piece of corrugated plastic and cut a slit in it to hold the balloon. We got cardboard wheels in 2 sizes. When you blew up the balloon and let it go, your car moved. I enjoyed the experience... Vicky   When you blow up the balloon the car might go around the floor when you let it go. It can go anywhere, it's very hard to control it... Simone Simone We were told about cars, then put into groups. We had to saw some wood and then glue it in an I, then we had to glue some more things on. When it was finished you blew up the balloon and hopefully it would move. We had two races, but I still needed some work on mine. Overall making the cars was excellent because we made a car without an engine. We learnt the proper names that people that fix cars use, it was brilliant... Nicola A   We had a couple of races and I won the second one. At first when we were going into the hall I thought we were having a carol practice. Sometimes I am not that good at making things but this time I was... Stephanie Stephanie We were going to make another design of car, moving it with a balloon. We had a race... Daniel R   Daniel R We went into the hall to make a balloon powered car. It sounded exciting... Bulent (Y5)

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