Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School gifted third-graders are building model cars — and talking about ways to solve the world’s future energy problems — for an hour each week.

On Tuesday, the school’s third-graders enrolled in QUEST — the school’s gifted program — used small solar panels, drinking straws, wood and plastic wheels to build solar-powered cars.

Guided by their own drawings and directions, students stopped periodically to ask questions and ponder the greater meaning of the task at hand.

Megan Farabaugh, gifted coordinator at Mack Benn, has launched a three-year program for QUEST students. Students are focusing on three R’s — recycling, reducing their carbon footprint and reusing things to have a positive impact on the environment — through ongoing projects over the next three years, Farabaugh said.

The QUEST projects align with the state Standards of Learning at the appropriate grade level, Farabaugh said.

The students agreed that energy is a limited resource, one they worry will be insufficient if the world’s population continues to grow and strain demand on existing resources. Using solar panels on their cars will help protect the environment and should be a testament to what adults could do, said Nathan Dewolfe, 9.

“The sun produces a whole lot of energy … and we are throwing it all away,” said Dewolfe. “If we can build these cars to save energy, I would think it would be really easy to for grownups to make them.”

Larry Stokes, an aspiring barber, agreed, adding that everyone can regularly help the environment in small ways.

“The earth is not safe because of the greenhouse effect,” said Stokes, stopping to spin the wheels on his car. “We need to stop using so much electricity.

“If you leave a room, turn out the light. If you finish watching television, turn it off,” he said. “All of that makes a difference.”

Her QUEST class has also taught her other environmentally-friendly things to do, such as not putting oil in water and the importance of riding bikes or walking instead of using a car, said 8-year-old Genevieve Bonte.

“But I wouldn’t ride a bike to school,” she said. “I would get lost.”