Blue Lightning

Blue Lightning
by A.P. Raj

Sondra loved cars more than anything else. When she was a kid, she begged her dad to let her join
the Boy Scouts, just so she could build a car to race in the Pinewood Derby. Her car was a jagged
spike of pinewood painted a glittery, electric shade of blue. She named that car "Blue Lightning."

Blue Lightning didn't win the Pinewood Derby, but it did come in 2nd place. Sondra had been so
proud, and her dad was proud of her, too. She had doodled drawings of Blue Lightning all over her
notebooks. She sometimes dreamt that Blue Lightning became a real car sitting out in her driveway,
and she would get in and take it out for a drive. Even though she was too young, and had never
driven a car, in those dreams she always knew exactly what to do. Driving Blue Lightning made her
feel powerful and free.

Then one lazy Saturday in spring, Sondra was flipping through a car magazine she liked, when an ad
caught her eye:

AMATEUR GO-KART RACERS, START YOUR ENGINES!

Do you LOVE cars? Do you have a passion for racing? Build your very own go-Kart and enter the Go-
Go Derby! All experience levels welcome! Racers ages 13 and up may enter with parental
supervision.

Sondra had just turned 13 that fall. She screamed with delight and immediately ran to her dad to beg
him for permission to enter. She was ready to build Blue Lightning, Mark II.

Her dad read the magazine ad and frowned.

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 Blue Lightning

"I don't know, Sondra," he said. "Building a car for the Pinewood Derby was one thing, but a go-kart?
That's a whole new level. It sounds kind of dangerous."

"Not if you help me!" she said.

"That's true. It could be a fun project. And we'd both learn a lot," he said.

"Exactly! So we can do it?" Sondra said.

"Well, I'll ask your mother what she thinks. And I want to know that you're serious about it. So how
about this: you do some research into how we're actually going to build this thing, and come back to
me in a week with a design."

Sondra jumped with joy. "You got it, Dad!" she said. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek,
and went straight to her computer to start researching go-kart designs.

In a week, Sondra had a notebook full of drawings and notes about her project, from spending hours
after school researching, thinking and planning. Blue Lightning, Mark II looked ready to go. Sondra's
design was a lot like the original Blue Lightning, except instead of pinewood, it would be made of
steel. And of course, it would be a real vehicle that she could drive. Thrilled at the thought of building
it, Sondra brought her sketches and notes to her dad.

He put on his glasses and looked over her work, thinking. "These are some interesting ideas, honey,"
he said. "I see you've designed this a lot like your Pinewood Derby car from a few years ago, even
down to the lightning bolt shape you love so much."

"That's right!" Sondra said, beaming.

"Well, it will certainly look unique," he said. "But how will it drive?"

"What do you mean?" Sondra asked.

"Well..." Her dad stopped to think. It seemed like he had something to say, but decided against it. "Tell
you what. Instead of telling you what I think, why don't we build Blue Lightning, Mark II the way you've
designed it?"

Sondra was a bit confused, but she wanted to build the go-kart more than anything, so she agreed.

They took a trip to the hardware store to buy all the parts they needed: a lot of metal, engines, cables,
brackets, bolts and screws. They had to stop at a specialty hobbyist store to pick up the steering
wheel and the materials they needed to build the steering block-the accelerator and brake pedals,
and, of course, a comfy seat for Sondra to sit in. Finally, they stopped at a sporting goods store to buy
a helmet and pads for her to wear when she was driving.

Back at home, they brought all their new stuff into the garage and went to work. Over two weekends
of hard work, they turned Sondra's sketches and notes into a real, working go-kart. When they finally
mounted the seat on Blue Lightning, Mark II, Sondra felt more proud than she had ever felt in her
whole life.

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 Blue Lightning

"She looks great!" Sondra said. "All we have to do now is the paint job!"

"Before we do, why don't we take it for a test drive?" her dad said.

Sondra thought she heard some mischief in his voice and thought about how he had almost said
something about her design, but had decided not to. What was he up to?

"Okay," she said. "Let's do it!"

So they took the second Blue Lightning out to a nearby parking lot, and Sondra took it for a spin. Her
dad made sure she wore her helmet and pads, and watched her as she drove the go-kart around the
lot. She noticed that when she tried to go fast, she felt a lot of resistance from the wind. When she
slowed down, she didn't notice it as much.

After she had her fun, she drove back to where her dad was standing. He was smiling like he
expected something from her.

"Well, that was fun!" she said. "But I think I know why you wanted me to take it for a test drive."

"Oh, do you?" he said. "Please share."

"I noticed that there was a lot of push-back when I would drive it fast," she said.

"Yes, and?"

"And I think it's because of the lightning bolt shape. The wind pushes in and kind of gets caught in the
zigzagging part of the frame," she said.

"Very good!" her dad said.

"So, why didn't you tell me about that problem in the first place?" Sondra said. She was a little bit
annoyed.

Her dad laughed. "Where's the fun in that? Didn't I ever tell you the story about teaching someone to
fish?"

"'If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day,'" Sondra said, mimicking a very wise tone her parents
used when they were teaching her lessons. "'But if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime.'"

"Exactly, kiddo," he said. "You may be annoyed now, but I promise, you'll thank me when you're
older."

Sondra rolled her eyes. "You always say that!"

"It's always true," her dad said, laughing.

"So, now what?" she said.

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 Blue Lightning

"Now, we get ice cream. But after that, it's back to the drawing board for you."

Sondra smiled. "Sounds good to me. Designing is half the fun anyway!"

So Sondra went back to researching, sketching and taking notes. Her dad emailed her an article
about aerodynamics: the science of how air interacts with solid objects. After she read it, she felt silly
about her lightning bolt design. But her dad told her that sometimes, the only way we learn how to do
something right is by doing it a few times first, and making silly mistakes along the way.

"You know who makes more mistakes than anybody?" he said. "Great inventors!"

That inspired Sondra and she worked harder than ever. Her next design wasn't shaped like a
lightning bolt at all, but more like a Formula One racecar. She started to understand why they were
designed the way they were.

She showed her dad her new design, and he nodded with pride. Once again, they went to work,
taking apart the first go-kart they'd built and putting it back together again. When Sondra test-drove
the newest Blue Lightning, it came a lot closer to living up to its name.

"What do you think, Dad?" she asked. "Do we need to go back to the drawing board again?"

"You can always make improvements on a design," he said. "But the race is in two weeks!"

So they decided that Blue Lightning, Mark II was in racing condition, and painted it with the electric
blue paint Sondra loved. When the time came to race in the Go-Go Derby, Sondra wasn't worried
about whether she came in first place - in her mind, she had already won, by building something
better than she had ever built before.

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 Go-Kart Designs - Paired Text Questions
The Go-Kart · Blue Lightning

Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________

Use the article "Blue Lightning" to answer questions 1 to 2.

1. When Sondra took her first go-kart for a test drive, she noticed that there was a lot of
push-back when she drove fast. What aspect of the go-kart did Sondra think caused
the push-back?

2. How did Sondra solve the problem of the push-back from the wind?

Use the article "The Go-Kart" to answer questions 3 to 4.

3. The boys' first go-kart did not go as fast as they wanted it to. One problem was that
Sam had forgotten to turn off the emergency brake while driving the go-kart. What
were two other problems that made the go-kart slow?

4. How do the boys improve their go-kart's design to make it go faster? Give two details
from the text to support your answer.

Use the articles "Blue Lightning" and "The Go-Kart" to answer questions 5 to 7.

5. Compare the problem that Sondra had with her first go-kart with the problems that
Michael and Sam had with their first go-kart.

6. Compare the ways that Sondra and the boys solved the problems with their first go-
kart designs.

7. In "Blue Lightning," Sondra's dad tells her that "sometimes, the only way we learn
how to do something right is by doing it a few times first, and making silly mistakes
along the way." Give evidence from both texts to support this statement.

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