Experience the thrill of victory—while learning science! Inside this engaging educational reference, Doc Fizzix reveals:
- 7 mousetrap racer plans ranging from a Basic Racer to the speedy Double-Trouble
- Speed and distance tricks that will make your racer travel the fastest and farthest
- Trouble-shooting tips and techniques for solving any design problem
- How to create a winning Science Fair project using secrets from the lab of Doc Fizzix
What's a mousetrap racer? A very cool, very fast vehicle that's powered by the energy of a wound mousetrap spring! Now, with only a few simple tools and materials, a curious mind, and the science-secrets of Doc Fizzix, you too can build a mousetrap dragster that will compete at the fastest speeds, up the steepest inclines, or in an unlimited number of contests—all while discovering the fun of physics and engineering first-hand.
Kids are naturally curious. They love to build stuff, and projects that involve cars will entertain children for hours. In this entertaining guide written by a Teacher-of-the-Year winner, your kids will learn how to construct race cars from ordinary, affordable household materials, while learning the science behind how they work, in language easy enough for a 7th grader to understand.
Offering more than just a fun project, mousetrap-powered vehicles are a gateway to many of the great concepts in science. Projects using mousetrap vehicles have dramatically grown in popularity in classrooms across the nation and this easy-to-read manual teaches parents, teachers, and science students of all ages the basic construction secrets they need to build champion mousetrap-powered vehicles, using nothing more than common household items.
Written by an award-winning science teacher holding national mousetrap speed and distance records, this guide also identifies the variables that dramatically affect the performance of mousetrap races and offers prescriptive advice based on primary scientific concepts such as friction, inertia, force, and acceleration.
Containing full-color photos, diagrams, fun illustrations, and easy-to-follow step-by-step directions for creating the ultimate speed-trap dragster, long-distance racer, boats, and more, this activity guide is designed to eliminate the guesswork and make learning fun! Working together, students and parents will learn how to build racing vehicles that not only win the gold for top speed, but also take home the trophy for longest distance traveled.
With the ingenious ideas and multiple projects inside Doc Fizzix's Mousetrap Racers: The Complete Builder's Manual, you have a fun weekend activity for the whole family, a cool lesson plan any student will enjoy, and an engaging source of science information that doesn't read like a textbook!
Doc Fizzix (Alden J. Balmer) is an award-winning physics teacher from McNeil High School in Round Rock Independent School District and the 1996 Texas Science Teacher of the Year. Doc Fizzix has appeared on several nationally aired television programs and has been featured in many magazines including: The Science Teacher, Boys' Life, Web Page Design, Physics Today, and more.
