Can Speedster

Would it be useful to have a fast little vehicle to deliver secret messages, or just for fun, which needs no power or fuel to run?

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Coffee (or Milo) can and two can lids
• can opener
• rubber bands
• bead
• paper clip
• strong tape (gaffer, masking)
• scissors or other sharp punch type object
• unsharpened pencil, longer then the diameter of your can.
• detergent/liquid soap

Adult help required for younger creators.
Warning: Cut can edges can be sharp!

WHAT TO DO:

Use a can opener to cut off the bottom of the can.

Punch a hole in the centre of both can lids. It should be large enough for a rubber band to pass through easily.

Next, push one end of a rubber band through one of the holes, and hook it around a paper clip on the outside of the lid. Using tape (this needs to be strong enough to withstand some force), secure the paper clip in place over the hole so that the rubber band cannot pull back through the hole. Now, put the lid with the rubber band onto its can.

Very carefully, reach your hand into the can and grab hold of the rubber band. The cut edges of the can are sharp!

Push the free end of the rubber band through the hole in your other can lid, from the inside. Insert the end of the rubber band through a bead, with the bead is on the outside of the lid.

Slide a pencil through the part of the rubber band that is on the far side of the bead from the can, so that the rubber band cannot pull back through the bead and the lid.

Adjust the position of the pencil evenly, so that both ends stick over the edges of the can.

Put the detergent/liquid soap around the edges of the can to cut down friction and allow it to slide more easily.

Wind up the penciland place the can on the floor. Let go... watch your vehicle go!

Now it's time for you to experiment.

What would you like to improve or change about your vehicle?
How could you make it go faster?
Will it go faster if you use different sized cans?
what about changing the surface it runs on? How could you cut down friction?
What about putting some weight on the inside of the coffee can?

Make a prediction. Then, try changing one thing at a time- that's the variable- and test it out.

Record your results. What did you learn from them? Then try something else!