Overview

Western Power’s Solar Model Boat Challenge is a boat race designed for primary school students under the age of 13 years (at October 1).

The skills necessary to build a working solar boat are quite appropriate for younger students and provide a rich learning experience. Constructing and racing a boat provides students with an opportunity to work on a technology based, problem-solving activity. Many skills and understandings learned through this activity can be applied in other projects over time.

The first day of competition consists of time trials. On this day boats will race against the clock in a 10 metre pool. At the conclusion of the time trials boats are seeded, with the fastest boats being invited to return the following day to compete in the finals. (Boats are allocated to groups for the finals in such a way that the faster boats should not compete with each other in the earlier rounds of the finals.)

Both days of racing will be held at Western Power’s Energy Education Centre, World of Energy located at 12 Parry Street Fremantle.

Next Section >> Introduction