Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland

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Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland

• Tried and Tested Technology Challenges
• (T3C)

Compiled by Jess Cooke, based on over 20 years
involvement with Science and Engineering clubs .
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T3C Project Choices

•  
• Balloon Powered Vehicle
• Model Boats (for a guttering canal)
• A Timer to ring a bell after a specific time
  interval (30s, 1min)
• A launcher for a ping-pong ball to hit targets
  at 1m,2m,3m
• An electrical Quiz board lights up or buzzes
  if answered correctly
• A Sorting Machine for coins, sweets etc
• A Weighing device
• A Marble transfer device
• A Particular Pylon (straws, pasta or cocktail
  sticks)
• An eco-friendly Christmas cracker
• An egg transfer device
• A Jack in the Box, to lift out an egg
• A satellite grabber
• A Windowsill Greenhouse for tea-bag grow bags
• The Paper Engineering Challenge

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T3C Determined to Engineer

• The Design Process
• The general principles are the same for any
  project
• Define the problem being solved
• Be able to state clearly what you are
  setting out to achieve
• Consider a number of solutions
• Brainstorm a few different design ideas
  before you start to make anything
• Carry out research
• Ask questions, interview experts, search
  on-line, look up books etc
• Do simple experiments to help you make
  design decisions (e.g. to compare different
  materials before deciding what to use)
• Decide on one design idea and build/make it
• Make sure all the team are involved
• Evaluate the finished design
• Test its performance. If unsuccessful, go
  back to stage 2
• then make improvements and go back to stage 4
  until the team agree
• the challenge has been successfully completed
• Complete a technology report/take photos for
  display
•  

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T3C.1 Balloon Powered Vehicle (Racer)

• Using 4 CDs for wheels, and basic materials
  normally found in the home or workshop, design
  and build a simple Balloon Powered Vehicle to
  transport a ping-pong ball along a level track.
  If you want to have a race these rules might be
  useful
• Prior to inflating the balloon, the vehicle
  dimensions should not exceed those of a standard
  A4 paper box
• The vehicle should clearly display a team
  logo/school colours
• The vehicle should be powered by a single balloon
  and should be ready for release within 1 minute
  of being called to the start line
• The vehicle should be released from behind the
  start line. Pushing will result in
  disqualification.
• Judges measure the time over the first metre
• and the distance from start to finish for each
• vehicle to calculate the Distance to Time ratio
• for each vehicle.

•  

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T3C.2 Model Boats Paddle versus Sail

•  

Using paper, card, sellotape, cocktail sticks,
straws,elastic bands, polystyrene etc design and
make a boat to race in the test tank. Your boat
should be powered either by an elastic driven
paddle or by the wind provided by a hair dryer
fixed at one end of the tank..

• Boat racer
• Which style of boat is better -paddle or sail?
• Which measurements will give you the speed?

Guttering boat track
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T3C.3 Timing Device

•  
• Using materials such as paper cups, straws,
  thread, pins etc, and a marble, water, sand or
  a candle, design and build a timer to ring a
  bell/make a noise after a given time interval
  (30s, or 1min)

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T3C.4 Ping Pong Launcher

•  

Using the kit provided or materials of your own
choosing, design and build a device which will
fire a ping pong ball to strike a target at a
distance of 1, 2 or 3metres. Prepare an
instruction sheet to allow another user to set
the launcher for each target distance.
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T3C.5 Electrical Quiz Board
Design and make a quiz board with at least 4
questions and answers which will light a bulb or
ring a buzzer when the correct answer is
connected to each question
Choose your own topic for the quiz and decorate
the quiz board to match your theme.
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T3C.6 Sorting Machine

•  
• Using materials such as paper cups, card,
  cocktail sticks etc, design and make a device
  that will sort Smarties or marbles into groups
  of 5

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T3C.7 A Weighing Machine

Using the materials provided, design and build a
simple weighing device which can be used to
measure masses of between 10g and 100g
Suggested materials Paper cups, elastic
bands, Wire coat hanger, paper clips Plasticine,
metre stick, string, card, pins, garden
canes, Sellotape, 1 standard 10g mass water
bottle (1ml water ?1g) etc
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T3C.8 A Marble Transfer Device

•  

Construct a channel that will transfer a marble
the greatest vertical distance and take the
longest possible time.
RULES The marble run must be confined to the
table top. The marble should roll continuously
once it is released. If the marble falls out of
the channel, the height and time will be measured
from the start to the point where the marble
leaves the channel.

• Equipment
• Marble
• 8 sheets A4 card
• Scissors
• 1 roll sellotape
• 20 paper clips
• 4 wooden plant stakes or skewers

Score Drop height ..cm Time taken
seconds Performance Rating J K L
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T3C.9 Particular Pylons

•  

Using only the materials in the kit provided,
design and build a model pylon which is capable
of supporting a test weight at an agreed height.
The structure should be free standing, not
supported in any way. The idea is to make the
cheapest structure which meets the conditions
set at the start.  
Kit 1 Fruit pastilles, straws, and cocktail
sticks Kit 2 Pasta strands, marshmallows
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T3C.10 Eco Friendly Christmas Cracker

•  

Using recycled materials as much as possible,
design and make a an eco-friendly Christmas
Cracker
Your cracker should contain a novelty item, a
quiz question and a joke. Your report should
explain what features makes your cracker
eco-friendly
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T3C.11 Egg Transfer Device

• Either
• Design a set-up to transfer an egg from one table
  top to another all by itself
• Or
• Design a system to project an egg through a hole
  in a card and catch it unbroken at the other
  side.

The materials and measurements/distances for
these challenges should be decided/agreed by the
club members and leaders.
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T3C.12 Jack in the Box

•  

  Using no more than 3 sheets A4 card and glue
design and make a Jack in the Box to lift out
an egg or a ping pong ball when the lid is
opened. The lifting mechanism can be
constructed from an extra sheet of card or by a
simple mechanical device which involves
pneumatics (or even a balloon?)
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T3C.13 Satellite Grabber

• Using materials of your own choosing, design and
  build a device which will allow you to grab and
  retrieve a model satellite positioned at a
  distance of 1 metre
• The model satellite should be
• constructed using a helium balloon
• as shown in the diagram.
• It should be weighted down with
• polystyrene to hold it steady in
• mid air

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T3C.14 Windowsill Greenhouse

• Design and build a mini greenhouse suitable for
  indoor use on a windowsill which will allow you
  to investigate whether Tea Bag' grow bags are
  better than cotton wool for growing cress or
  mustard from seed

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T3C.15 Paper Engineering Challenge

•  
• Using only the materials provided, you have 1
  hour to make as many of the following items as
  possible.
• A Fishy Game
• A Puzzle
• A Puppet
• A Storage Box with a Lid
• A Mobile
• Something Useful
• Each group will be asked to demonstrate their
  items at the end of the hour. The other teams
  will award points out of 5 for each item. The
  leaders may award bonus points for good teamwork.

A4 Paper/card Cocktail sticks Straws Paper
clips Skewers Thread ? Sellotape ?
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T3C.15 Paper Engineering Challenge cont.

•  
• The materials provided are on display. Teams
  should prepare a shopping list before
  collecting the items they require.
• The materials have been priced to allow teams to
  estimate the cost of their designs. Costs should
  be kept as low as possible.
• Each group will be asked to demonstrate their
  items at the end of the hour. The other teams
  will award points out of 5 for each item. The
  leaders may award bonus points for good teamwork.

Item No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points Total Score