2018 Middle School Electric Car Competition - Video Text Version

Below is the text version for the 2018 Middle School Electric Car Competition video.

Text on screen: Nearly 125 students from across Colorado participated in the 2018 Middle School Electric Car Competition.

Off camera: How are you guys feeling?

Student 1: Nervously optimistic.

Text on screen: Sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, this competition offers a hands-on learning experience and promotes teamwork.

Student 2: It's really fun because you actually get to learn hands-on whereas, a lot of other times in school you're just taught with a book or a laptop and you're not really getting to experience it.

Text on screen: Participants design and build cars that are powered by either lithium-ion batteries or the sun.

Teacher: At the very beginning, they have to figure out how they're gonna make their motors run and what gear ratios is the best to use and how to get the electrical current moving and working...and then on days like this they have to figure out how to turn a solar car into a AA battery car.

Student 3: We're really excited to try and finish every time and we're really confident in our design.

Text on screen: After an extensive inspection process, the teams participated in a series of heats to identify the fastest cars. Some heats did not go as planned, but the students made the necessary adjustments to keep racing. In the end, awards were given for design,speed, and sportsmanship, but it was clear that the experience was greater than the trophies.

Student 4: I think it'd be really interesting to do something with engineering and science and I think this has helped inspire that.

Student 5: I'm really competitive so I like the competition piece but I also like building the car because I can do it with my friends but it's also the mechanical engineering, which I like so, it's just all really fun to me.

Text on screen: Special thanks to all of the teachers, parents, volunteers, staff, and participants for making this event a continued success.

Teacher: One hundred thousand percent. I think this is my eighth or ninth year that I've done this so, I absolutely recommend it to other schools.

Text on screen: Learn how you can get involved at nrel.gov/education.