STEM Minute | Pana High School physics class takes on mouse trap cars

PANA, Ill. (WAND) — Create a moving car out of mousetraps, pencils, strings, and wheels — that's the assignment given to Pana High School's physics class. But it was not a simple task, and it required a lot of work for the students.

"We use Tinkercad to design our car, that process took a while on its own to figure out how to do," said Matthew Logsdon, a senior, explaining a computer software they used. "And then with 3D printing the base, we had to understand what filaments we wanted to use, how big we wanted our car, and used the laser cutter for our wheels."

The students were graded based on how far they were able to get their car to travel. The students said it took a lot of mistakes to finally get to a point where they succeeded.

"At the very beginning, me and my partner did not make a hole to attach the string to the rod, so we didn't have a way for the car to actually move," explained Issabell Reed, a senior. "So we had to reprint our whole car and make a new design. "So also learn how failure and troubleshooting plays a part in science projects. "

But this was part of teacher Greg Cothern's goal. He wanted students to know that failure and troubleshooting are a part of life, and science.

"It was neat to get to see them realize that we have a lot more material, we can make mistakes, and that's what science is," said Cothern. "That's what life is. And that's what I wanted to get out of the kids, is that you're going to fail at things, and it's just your ability to adapt to that failure to push through and persevere. That's what I wanted them to take out of it."

The seniors acknowledged how blessed they were to be able to use advanced technology like laser cutters and 3D printers while still in high school. Many of them said they hope to use similar technology in college when they pursue STEM careers.