• Students in 3rd-5th grades researched, planned, built, and tested their own solar cars with partners.  Their designs were unique and showed innovation.  After testing their cars, they worked to improve their designs, constantly testing and improving until they were happy with their creations.
     
    The teams took their cars to the 2017 Energy Whiz Solar Olympics and competed against teams from other schools.  During the competition, each team was interviewed by a panel of judges, where they shared their journal and explained their design, as well as answer questions the judges asked.  While at the competition, they were interviewed by a reporter from the Tallahassee Democrat, our city's local newspaper.  Buck Lake students won:
     
    Innovation
    1st Place - Ashlyn and Nia (5th grade)
     
    Design
    2nd Place - Ashlyn and Nia (5th grade)
    3rd Place - Kaycee, Cael, and Maiya (3rd grade)
     
    Racing/Speed
    1st Place - Caleb and Nelson (5th grade)
    2nd Place - James and Kevin (5th grade)
    3rd Place - Ashlyn and Nia (5th grade)
     
    After the Olympics, students explained how their cars worked (explaining the path of the transfer of energy) to Mrs.J's 2nd graders.