Student Teams Preparing for Junior Solar Sprints Competition

Approximately 500 students at eighteen (18) Hunterdon schools have been designing, building and testing solar powered model race cars as part of the Hunterdon County Junior Solar Sprints Program. Junior Solar Sprints (JSS) is a competition based S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) curriculum program. Junior Solar Sprints (JSS) engages Hunterdon students in Grades 6-8.

Student teams are provided with a basic kit of materials needed to build their race cars (wheels, axels, gears, motors, and solar panels). Beyond these materials, students may use anything they like to design and build their vehicle.

Over the course of several months, students participate in interactive lessons on Solar Power and Green Energy Sources, Aerodynamics, Gears and Gear Ratios, Basics of Design, Building and Testing a Protoype Vehicle, and Speed. Lessons are provided by trained HART staff. Junior Solar Sprints programming may be incorporated into classroom curriculum or used as part of an after school club.

After months of building, testing and experimentation, students compete for the fastest, most-innovative and best-engineered vehicles on JSS Race Day.

Student teams from around Hunterdon County will come together on May 18 to race their vehicles against one another. Student cars are judged in five different categories: speed, craftsmanship, engineering, best use of recycled materials, and documentation portfolio. Winners in each of these categories are invited to the JSS regional competition at an Inter-County final competition.

Participating schools include:

  1. Alexandria Middle School
  2. Bloomsbury Elementary School
  3. Califon Public School
  4. Clinton Public School
  5. Clinton Township Middle School
  6. Delaware Township School
  7. East Amwell Township School
  8. Ethel Hoppock Middle School
  9. Frenchtown Elementary School
  10. High Bridge Middle School
  11. Holland Township School
  12. Immaculate Conception School
  13. Kingwood Township School
  14. Lambertville Public School
  15. Lebanon Township School
  16. Old Turnpike School
  17. Reading-Fleming Intermediate School
  18. Round Valley School

HART gratefully acknowledges the generosity of Green Power Energy, Annandale, and ExxonMobil Research & Engineering, Annandale, for their financial support of the Hunterdon County Junior Solar Sprints program

Read more about Hunterdon County Junior Solar Sprints.