After a new speed record and a dramatic crash at Talladega Motor Speedway in 1985, NASCAR needed to limit the speed of cars to race more safely the next season.
Students are shown one solution to the problem: restrictor plates. Students question how restrictor plates keep cars from reaching speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, which creates the need to investigate how a heat engine works. (Lesson provides teacher directions for constructing a simple heat engine using everyday materials.) Students create and use models to predict how changing variables affect the heat engine. They develop and apply ideas about chemical reactions and energy to explain how the restrictor plates introduced in the 1986 season reduced speeds of NASCAR race car engines at Talladega and other superspeedways.
Materials
- The Day That Changed NASCAR Forever (clip A 0:40–2:16)
- The Restrictor Plate Controversy—May 1988 (clip B 1:33–1:50)
- Chart paper or small whiteboards (one per group of students)
- Markers (appropriate for paper or whiteboard)
- Heat engine model template (one per student)
- How Candles Burn student article (adapted from National Candle Association Candle Science
- Under the Hood article
Heat engine materials
- Birthday candle
- Large paper clip
- 3”x5” index card or card stock
- Scissors
- Single-hole punch
- Ruler
- Utility knife
- Push button from disassembled retractable pen
- Transparent tape
- Candle lighter
- Clear plastic tube (approx. 1.5” dia. x 12” len.), similar to packages for vinyl rolls at the craft store, with removable cap
- Making the Heat Engine directions (teacher only)
- Heat Engine Demonstration video (teacher only)
