Solar cars race down the track

MOSES LAKE — There are different kinds of energy, as the exhibits at the Solar Car Races and Energy Fair demonstrate. The energy fair focuses on renewable energy, so there were exhibits on solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy.

Then there’s fifth-grade energy. Fifth-graders provide the power for the energy fair, racing solar cars, making pinwheels and solar ovens, learning about electricity through batteries and flashlight bulbs.

Fifth-graders from Moses Lake filled the lawns outside the ATEC building on the Big Bend Community College campus Wednesday. Fifth-graders from Ephrata, Coulee City and Warden join Moses Lake students Thursday. About 650 students attended the event.

The kids use construction paper and straws to make a pinwheel, which demonstrates the scientific principles behind wind energy. Fifth-graders use pizza boxes and aluminum foil to make a solar oven. A thermometer and pieces of light and dark cloth demonstrate the scientific principles behind heat transference.

Scientific principles can be kind of tasty, too. Students from Moses Lake High School use a real solar oven to bake s’mores, and a less sophisticated version to cook hot dogs. Every fifth-grader gets a bite.

Grant County PUD employees bring a trailer full of information and exhibits on hydropower, and REC Silicon employees demonstrate how solar panels are made. Both are sponsors of the car races/energy fair, along with BBCC, Puget Sound Energy, the Moses Lake School District and others.

But the biggest event is the solar car races. Each participating fifth-grader gets his or her own solar car kit, provided by REC Silicon. The cars are powered with a solar panel; it is connected directly to the motor. It’s all mounted on the wheel-and-axle assembly.

Every fifth-grader gets a chance at the official track and the official time, and the kids with the fastest cars receive a medal during the hydropower presentation.

But like any car race things can go wrong. Cars got hung up on the center strip that keeps them from veering off the track and went really slow. Cars lost their mojo due to broken or misplaced wires. There was a pit area for cars that needed major repairs.

It was all very exciting, and some of that fifth-grade energy spilled out in ways the teachers didn’t always like. Fifth-grade energy may be renewable, but nothing slows it down like That Tone in a teacher’s voice. That tone had even the PUD employees treading carefully.

The races are held each May, according to the Grant County PUD website, and are designed to show kids how people harness and use renewable energy.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.