Sun powers Granite Falls kids and their cars

GRANITE FALLS -- Isabella Villers pointed the small solar race car at the sky.

The wheels started to spin on the car she built with her classmate, Emily Lyons, 12.

The girls giggled and jumped up and down in excitement. Then they carefully put their car – composed of a solar cell, a wood panel, a DC motor, axles and wheels – on the ground outside their classroom at Monte Cristo Elementary School. It rolled along the pavement.

"Whoa, it works," said Isabella, 10.

They quickly decided that wasn't enough. Their car could go faster if they tweaked a few things.

"We're going to try to put it flat," said Emily, pointing at the solar cell secured to the top of the car's wooden base.

About 50 students in Debra Howell and Michael Schireman's fourth- through sixth-grade classes learned about electricity, energy and magnetism late last year. Howell applied for a $500 PUD educational grant to purchase solar car kits from Miniscience.com. Students got started building the solar cars last week to apply what they learned during the unit and begin their own experiments with the cars.

No one was positive their car would work until the first trial run Monday. Mickayla Belgum, 10, and her team found out making the car move on its own wasn't an easy task. It didn't move on their first try. The students went back inside to modify their design.

"I think we should elevate (the solar cell)," said Lucas Cobrea, 11. "Get some duct tape."

It wasn't the answer and neither were several other modifications Lucas, Mickayla and 11-year-old Lillianna Cordell made to their car. But Mickayla assured her teammates she thought they were on the right track.

"It works better when (the solar cell) it tilted toward the sun," she said.

Her team agreed.

"She's like the boss," Lucas said.

The students made trips in and out of their classrooms for an hour as they tested modifications. Clouds started covering the sky as the students were told it was time to put their cars away.

"When we have some sunny days in a row, we can really go to it," Howell said.

The project has prompted parents and grandparents to volunteer in the classrooms, she added. One grandparent, Mike Lindquist, brought his own soldering equipment and a volt meter to help with the project.

Only two of the 20 cars didn't move at all during the trial, said Lindquist, a retired electrician.

"For as many hands that have been on them and for as rough as they've been handled, we've had a pretty good percentage of success," he said.

The student teams will continue to work on modifying and decorating their cars, Howell said. They'll collect data and chart their car's distance and speed and race them. She also wants the classes to visit high school students who are building fuel-efficient cars to race in April as part of a Shell Oil Eco-marathon.

Emily said she liked the look of her team's car, even without any decoration.

"It's my favorite project so far this year," she said.

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491; adaybert@heraldnet.com.