Over the past school year, eight local schools have been designing and building electric power race cars with the hopes of winning the inaugural Chattanooga Green Prix on March 24 hosted by green|spaces. The schools competing in this year’s event include Nolan Elementary and Woodmore Elementary for the Goblin Style Race Car and East Lake Academy, Dalewood Middle, CSLA, Howard High School, STEM School and CGLA in the F24 Style Race Car.
The students received a base Greenpower USA kit car with a chassis, wheels, motor and batteries with the instructions to assemble the kits and then create a shell of the car using as many recycled materials as possible. They also were asked to learn how to charge their batteries using renewable energy like solar power. Once assembled, the teams had the opportunity to identify tweaks that can be made to make the car go faster including aerodynamics, alignment and driver techniques.
“This program challenges students on many levels," said Michael Walton, executive director of green|spaces. "Each student has a designated role including materials leader, design leader, marketing and communication leader and driver, teaching them about teamwork and individual responsibility toward a shared goal. They are also learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills at every stage of the project. We are training students starting at age nine with this program for the jobs of the future.”
“We received the kit and were thinking about how it was all going to go together," said Cody Sowers, student at Howard High School. "One of the issues that came up early was not communicating very well or not putting the parts in the right places. As we went along, we started to get along better and work as a team."
“We hope to be able to grow this event into a regional competition," said Mr. Walton. "Huntsville is our closest race location and it would be great to have another hub in the southeast for schools across the country to compete.”
The Chattanooga Green Prix hosted by green|spaces is free and open to the public. The race will take place at Chattanooga State Community College on March 24. Team registration will begin at 8 a.m. with the Elementary Goblin Race taking place at 11:30 a.m. and the F24 Middle/High School Race at 1:30 p.m.
Spectators are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for seating and food will be available for purchase on site.
The winning teams of the Chattanooga Green Prix race will be sent to compete in the Huntsville Goblin Race on April 28 and F24 Series Race on May 5.
The event is supported by volunteers from the Chattanooga Region of the Sports Car Club of America and sponsored by the Lyndhurst Foundation, TVA and Chattanooga State Community College. More information can be found at www.greenspaceschattanooga.org or by calling 648-0963.