And the Mice Win the Race

A long time honored tradition for physics students returned to Tesoro before the bell rang for Thanksgiving break. The annual mousetrap car project takes place every year in Mr. Gilpin’s class. Assigned back at the beginning of October, students were assigned to construct a car powered solely by a mousetrap. They were allowed to build their car using anything that pleased them; the only rule was that you couldn’t use a rattrap or a mousetrap car kit.

As the last class before Thanksgiving break began, Mr. Gilpin’s classes headed to the food court where they raced their cars against each other. As an incentive, the fastest car in the class received a 10% grade boost to their 100-point project. The car that was the fastest out of all Mr. Gilpins classes received a 20% grade boost. Mousetrap cars varied in shape, size, color, and design; some were made of wood and metal and even LEGOS. “My partner, Clay Eubank, and I were inspired by the brilliant physicist Galileo. We portrayed his trial and powered our car with ‘horse power’ (we put a horse on the car!). We definitely won most creative and had fun doing it!” says junior Chad Duncan.

The competitiveness between students increased as cars went further. Shouts, screams, and laughs could be heard from the food court. Overall, students had pride in the small car they created, and felt a sense of accomplishment when they would release that mousetrap and see their car travel. Excitement, fun, and science made the last day before a long awaited holiday that much better.