Part of Lesson Plan: Engineering a Hotter Hot Wheel Part 1- Model the Car

Activity Overview / Details

Demonstrate how to begin modeling the die-cast vehicle. Use calipers to measure overall width and depth. Sketch a rectangle to these dimensions in 3D modeling software. Measure the height from the bottom of the chassis to the top of the car door or to the hood. Extrude the rectangle to this dimension. Apply a 2D Sketch plane to the front (top) surface of this rectangular prism. Measure the width and depth of the top of the car. Sketch a rectangle to these dimensions. Measure the distance from the front of the car's hood to the front of the top of the car. Dimension this distance on the sketch, or use spatial judgement to position the rectangle. Measure the distance from the top of the door or the top of the hood to the top of the car. Extrude the second rectangle to this dimension. You should now have a very boxy shape that somewhat resembles a car. See illustration.

Circulate as students model their die-cast vehicles.