Ten80 Student Racing Challenge - NASCAR STEM Initiative

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Where is the STEM in the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge: NASCAR STEM Initiative?

The 1:10 scale RC car arrives ready to run. Your challenge is to optimize performance through good setup and modifications (just like a real race team).

There are over 14 million ways to set up your team car. Playing the technology lottery with trial and error will get you frustrated, faster. Make a mathematical model of your car's performance to narrow those 14 million down to a relative hand full of good options very quickly. That is the essence of race engineering.

Teams seek to maximize performance and avoid disaster. Through sound, data-driven decisions and practice, students learn to approach their car’s physical limits without exceeding them. Example activities include:

SCIENCE. Use Newton’s Laws of Motion and a skid pad test to calculate the coefficient of friction. Use that value to find top speed around a curve. Science teachers can use supplemental lessons in their physical science and physics classrooms.

TECHNOLOGY. Students use a leading 3-D CAD program, SolidWorks, to design a more aerodynamic car body or improve chassis parts. Spreadsheets are a must-have tool for most professionals and every student team.

ENGINEERING: When students apply math, science and technology to solve a problem, they are engineering a solution. Using the new Mechanical Engineering Guide, students use 3D CAD to redesign and improve components of their cars.

MATH. Learning to make the tracks is an applied geometry lesson. To optimize any variable, teams build and use math models in the form of graphs and tables. Math teachers can use supplemental lessons in their algebra - calculus classrooms.

New in 2011: PIT Now!
PIT = Petroleum Independent Transportation

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Students tackle the same issues that U.S. policy and technology makers face in transitioning from a fleet of gas guzzling to sustainable cars.

The momentous and very real issue must be tackled from two sides: Supply and Consumption. Student teams make their cars more efficient (consume less), create a wind or solar charging station (sustainable energy supply) or even convert their 1:10 scale car to a hybrid hydrogen fuel cell car like the one shown above.

Download P.I.T. Now Flier

P.I.T. Now Flier

Download List of Objectives & Skills

Skills & Objectives addressed by Curriculum

Download Curriculum Examples

Overview of Curriculum Contents

Intro to Race Engineering, Math Modeling
Intro to Aerodynamics

Link to Free STEM Resources

Dooly Team