Teams from area schools tuned up their entries for the third annual Solar Go-Kart Challenge presented on Saturday, March 21 by the Whitaker Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and the Renewable Energy Institute at FGCU.
A dozen South Florida high schools competed in the races in the outer lanes of the main campus loop: Barron Collier, Bishop Verot, Clewiston, Gulf Coast, Hardee, Immokalee, Key West, Labelle, Lely, Naples, North Fort Myers and South Fort Myers. Students spent weeks modifying the go-karts from kits, adding solar panels and batteries and customizing their vehicles in hopes of outpacing their competitors. The vehicles can reach up to 30 mph.
Elementary and middle school teams raced miniature remote-controlled solar cars.
The hands-on activity gives students the chance to learn critical thinking skills while having fun, according to chemistry professor Laura Frost, director of the Whitaker Center.
“Students learn through doing instead of through listening to a teacher or reading about it in a book,” she says. “Building a mini-solar car or a solar go-kart requires lots of testing and problem solving before race day.”
The event was the culmination of the yearlong STEM Tour organized by the STEM Team of SW Florida, a group of community leaders, educators and parents advocating for STEM programming that engages K-12 students. Other events this year included a solar-oven cook-off at the Imaginarium Science Center, a solar boat race at Algenol Biofuels in Bonita Springs and an energy challenge at The Village School in Naples.
High school competition
Overall winner: Bishop Verot High School
- Speed race
First place: Bishop Verot High School; second: North Fort Myers High School; third: South Fort Myers High School
- Relay race
First place: Bishop Verot; second: South Fort Myers; third: Gulf Coast High School
- Presentations
First place: Hardee High School; second: Bishop Verot High; third: South Fort Myers
Middle School challenge
First place: Oasis Middle seventh-graders; second: Oasis Middle eighth-graders; third: Team Spring Forward from Royal Palm Academy
Elementary School challenge
First place: Team Smart Scientists from Three Oaks Elementary; second: Zap from Three Oaks Elementary; third: Pelican Problem Solvers from Pelican Marsh Elementary