Fifth graders at Butterfield Elementary School spent weeks designing balloon-powered “jettoy” cars before finally putting them to the test last week with help from Nissan engineers. 

Students gathered inside the school’s multipurpose room, watching in anticipation as the handmade vehicles rolled across the floor during a STEM project focused on force, motion and teamwork. 

The program, now in its 12th year, challenged students to experiment with balloon sizes, wheel adjustments and aerodynamics to see how far their cars could travel. 

“They are taking their jet cars, they have balloons on them and they expand the balloons to a certain size to see if that has anything to do with how far their cars go,” fifth grade teacher Jennifer Ziehr said. 

Students spent weeks adjusting designs and testing how small changes affected performance, something Ziehr said is hard to replicate with reading or worksheets. 

“The more that they have their hands on things and [are] able to see how all the different parts work to make something like this actually go in motion, it’s something they really look forward to,” she said. 

Nissan test engineer Serena Logan-Baca said the program is designed to help students begin exploring STEM concepts at an early age, especially for girls.  

“I think it’s really important for the girls to see that there are women in STEM, especially in the automotive industry,” Logan-Baca said. “I think it’s really important for them to see that they can be engineers.”