Toy Jet Competition Displays Students' Engineering Skills

With air-filled balloon-propelled toy cars in tote, Bayside and Milwaukee middle school students took to the makeshift racetrack Tuesday for friendly competition.

Young Leaders Academy Charter School students teamed up with Bayside Middle School in the school gym for the A World at Motion Toy Jet Competition.

Students who participated in the STEM project worked on building the cars in class, prior to the competition. They were given the option of crafting a model built for speed, distance or accuracy, said Margaret Wilson, a fifth-grade science teacher at Bayside Middle School.

Balloons filled with air attached to the top of the cars propelled them forward, with the speed and distance dependent upon on how much air was put into the balloons, and the nozzle size.

"They are learning how much (air) to put in for the accuracy competition or the distance competition," Wilson said. "They've learned all these skills in the classroom and they can apply it during this competition."

Four students from each school will travel to Detroit for the "world Olympics," Wilson said. 

The students worked with Johnson Controls engineers, who didn't tell them how to necessarily build the cars, but helped with questions in an advisory role. 

Wilson said some of the students developed a real interest in the engineering field while working with the Johnson Controls employees. 

"I learned about propulsion and how air put into the balloon makes the car go faster," 10-year-old Jazmyn Springfield said. "It was a lot of fun."

It's the third year Bayside has put on the competition.