Year 8 team does Narrogin Senior High School proud with Solar Challenge showing

Narrogin Senior High School’s Year 8 team has placed second in the grand final of this year’s Synergy Schools Solar Challenge, narrowly going down to a fast-finishing Kingsway Christian College.

The event challenged students from 141 WA schools to create the fastest solar car they could.

The teams were then gradually whittled down to the final eight, who competed in the Year 8 division grand final.

Narrogin Senior High School science teacher Jean D’cruz, who was responsible for preparing the Narrogin students for the event, said they were required to design their car “from scratch” depending on the day’s conditions.

“They had to construct a solar car from scratch using the equipment that they had in the box, which included a piece of cork plate, copper electrical wires, tape, solar panels, a motor and batteries,” he said.

“They had to test it out, they had to see the direction of the sun and actually set up the solar panels based on that.” The team qualified for the event after winning their regional competition in Collie, overcoming stiff opposition from nearby Great Southern schools.

Mr D’cruz said participating in the event helped grow students’ interpersonal skills and taught them how to apply the science of solar.

“I selected the teams with students who aren’t used to working with each other; it’s just randomly selected. In the real world, you don’t get to pick and choose who you work with,” Mr D’cruz said. “Solar is the future because of all of these other energies slowly deteriorating away.

“If you have more knowledge about how you can use it and enhance it, then we’ll have a better chance for the future.”