The Fuel Cell Challenge is a dynamic project that tasks students with overseeing the engineering process for a fictitious toy company looking for a new environmentally friendly toy car design. Students grouped into teams and designed their own company with a name, logo, and slogan. Each team executed their own design process, choosing details such as the toy’s appearance and performance.
When teams sat down to build their cars, the main focus was making the toy move with a fuel cell. Students learned about electrolysis, the scientific process of splitting compounds. Using water and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, students split the liquid into hydrogen and oxygen, using the hydrogen gas to power their toy cars.
Middle School Science Teacher Wajida Taj led the activity and said that exposing students to these scientific processes and engineering skills helped them prepare for life after Achieve.
“I feel like exposing students to the engineering process is going to help them way beyond high school,” Taj said. “That education opens up a lot for them. It’s not just a career path. Engineering skills are needed for every career path when it comes to problem-solving and working through challenges.”
Through the Fuel Cell Challenge, students learned about the scientific and engineering processes. This equipped them with tools they can use outside the classroom such as critical thinking skills, asking quality questions, and perseverance.
Taj was quick to remind students that even if they weren’t interested in an engineering career, the lessons from the activity still applied to them.
“I tell them: ‘Each one of us is an engineer,’” Taj said. “We problem solve everything from morning to evening, so each one of us are engineers.”
The project concluded with a final presentation from each team. They shared prototypes and diagrams, and gave speeches about their final product and the process they went through.
Thanks to this comprehensive project, students learned about alternative energy, the laws of motion, and the scientific method.
What a great project! Keep up the great work, Wajida and all of Achieve!
About Achieve Charter Academy
Achieve Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Canton, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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