Air-Powered Vehicle

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Collaboratively design, test, and adapt a physical device under strict material and time constraints.

Use it when: Use during rapid prototyping, design thinking, or teamwork sessions where participants need a concrete, hands-on engineering challenge.

Skip it when: Skip if the group includes people with respiratory limitations who cannot be accommodated with manual pumps, or when smooth, level tabletop or floor space is unavailable.

Group arrangement: Teams of 3 to 5 participants (at least two teams required for competition)

Timing: Source specifies 10 minutes for build; 25 minutes total allows for briefing, construction, launch trials, and debrief.

Materials and tools

• 3 standard letter sheets of printer paper per team
• 3 standard plastic or paper drinking straws per team
• 6 round hard candies with a center hole (such as Life Savers) per team
• 30 cm (approx. 1 foot) of masking or cellophane tape per team
• 1 roll of painter tape for the floor or table start line
• 1 tape measure or yardstick
• 1 whiteboard or flip chart and dry-erase markers to record scores
• 1 manual hand-squeeze balloon pump or small paper fan (optional access alternative)
• Printed copies of Design and Launch Record (optional for hybrid/recorder roles)

Before participants arrive

1. Clear a smooth floor area or wide run of tables at least 3 meters long.
2. Tape a straight start line on the testing surface with painter tape.
3. Pre-count and bundle the exact material kits for each team.

Say this to open

Welcome. Each team receives the exact same kit: three sheets of paper, three drinking straws, six round ring candies, and thirty centimeters of tape. Your job is to construct a vehicle that rolls as far as possible powered solely by human breath. Once teams form and inspect materials, you will have ten minutes to build. At the launch line, each team gets one single puff of breath to propel the car. You may not push the car with hands or lips.

How to run it

1. Briefing and setup 3 minutes

   Form teams of 3 to 5 participants. Distribute one pre-packed kit to each team. State the rules: only supplied materials can be part of the vehicle, though items may be cut or torn. Demonstrate the launch boundary at the tape line: hands stay behind the back, lips stay at least five centimeters behind the car, and only one continuous puff of breath is allowed.

2. Prototyping and construction 10 minutes

   Start the 10-minute build timer. Teams design, assemble, and conduct informal test rolls at their stations. Provide verbal time warnings at five minutes and one minute remaining. When the timer sounds, all construction stops immediately and participants place their tools down.

3. Launch trials 7 minutes

   Call teams to the starting line one at a time. Each vehicle rests with its rear edge behind the tape line. One team member delivers a single puff of breath without touching the car. Measure the straight-line distance from the start line to the front of the vehicle once it stops. Record distances on the shared board.

4. Group debrief 5 minutes

   Gather the full room around the launch track. Discuss two selected questions about structural trade-offs and team decisions. Invite up to three participants to share observations before closing.

Debrief questions

• What structural choice created the most distance or stability, and why?
• How did your team resolve differences in design before committing your limited tape?
• If you had two minutes to rebuild with the same materials, what single modification would you make?

Finished output: A measured distance score for each team's breath-propelled vehicle.

Remote

This hands-on physics activity requires in-person tactile assembly and physical testing surfaces. Running it online changes the method entirely. If remote delivery is mandatory, run a digital physics sandbox challenge instead, where participants sketch vehicle parameters under identical digital constraints.

Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended because remote participants cannot manipulate materials or launch vehicles. If required, pair remote members with an in-person build team via mobile video call. Remote members actively participate in design discussions, guide the assembly, and use the Design and Launch Record to document choices and predictions. In-person members broadcast real-time prototyping and stream the launch trials.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who cannot or prefer not to blow forcefully may use a manual squeeze pump or small paper fan, provided all teams agree or the option is made universal.
• Participants who prefer not to build physically can take roles as test measurers, sketchers, or distance recorders without declaring a reason.

If the session gets stuck

The ring candies crack or break during axle assembly.

Allow teams to bind fragments with tape, or provide a replacement candy as long as no team uses more than six unbroken candies simultaneously.

Participants blow multiple times or touch the vehicle with their lips.

Enforce the launch posture: hands behind back, mouth at least five centimeters away, with exactly one continuous exhale permitted.

Terms used here

• Life Savers: A common brand of ring-shaped hard candy with a center hole, often used as wheels on straw axles.