The school where I work holds an annual car race that this year we rebranded as Formula Fun. We bought a new track and I had the students use Pinewood Derby blanks, axles, and wheels to build their amazing cars. We spent about a month designing, fabricating, and decorating our cars before the big day. The day of the race was a six hour marathon of decorating, adjusting the weight of the cars, testing, and finally competing for four different trophies.
The students started with a collection of web pages that I curated to look at how other people designed their cars. Afterwards, I gave them each a template that I found online for them to sketch the design of their car. I liked the template because it was 1:1 scale. After we reviewed the design together and refined it as necessary, the students transferred the design to their wood blocks.
Class VI learned to safely use the scroll saw in the FabLab at the beginning of the school year when we built automatons. I helped with the "steering" and my fingers were closer to the blade. We reviewed the order of cuts we would make before turning on the saw. The girls pushed and steered the blocks, I held a shop vac hose near the blade to catch as much of the dust and keep the line visible.
The girls used both a belt sander and blocks with sandpaper on them to finish off their designs.
Next, they used their original templates to create the designs that they would paint on their cars. I tried to use paint pens and Sharpies and at first it was great and contained the mess. As the pens ran out, to keep the project momentum, I allowed paint to messy results.
Installing the axles and wheels took a lot of hand strength and dexterity even with the tool I purchased to assist in the effort. On the day of the races, this was a bottleneck for the handful of students who still needed axles and wheels installed. However, I got the vast majority installed prior to race day. I had an 18 inch section of track they could test their cars on to make sure I placed the axles and wheels properly.
As race day approached I built the track stand. We ordered an amazing three lane track from
Derby Magic. They were super helpful and customized the length to our specifications. We also bought a timing gate.
I set up 18 feet of the track and the stand in the FabLab during Play periods and Maker Club.
On the day of the race I arrived early and assembled the track. Our custodian set me up with a couple of tables and I clamped the stand to one of them. The track proceeded off the edge of the table and down to an ottoman, which formed the fabled Hill. More on that later. Finally, the track ran from the hill to the finishing gate. The design of the track kept the cars from flying off into the distance.
Shortly after this photo was taken I put down a blue tape line to keep them from moving the tables around.
The morning of the race we had the entire Class VI down to the room. Nettie, the art teacher, brought a rich selection of materials to further decorate the car. There was a currency system of paper money with Class VI teachers, specialists, and administrators on them. Some became worth more than face value.
I set up a couple scales. Students could purchase three washers and a wood screw. They would weigh their car at the beginning and run it down the track for a baseline reading. Then they attached as many washers as they wanted with a pilot hole drilled in their car for them and a screwdriver that they used. They weighed the car again and recorded its time.
We spent about four hours decorating and testing our cars on the track.
At the end of the morning block students filed past the table with their completed cars and voted for the Best in Show trophy.
Last year's winners were on display: Fastest, Slowest, Queen of the Hill, and Best in Show. The Queen of the Hill trophy was awarded to the student whose car stopped the most times at the crest of Ottoman Rise.
The competition was friendly and fierce! Each heat had three cars race three times, once on each lane. I used an Excel spreadsheet I found online created by an Everett, WA scout troop. I should not have imported it into Sheets. Lesson learned. It did not calculate out winners for each Race so we had to do some creative bookkeeping in the end.
By the end of the day I was elated and exhausted!
This project and the event were career highlights, no doubt. My graduate work informed me that providing girls opportunities to collaborate and rich materials with which they can make aesthetic choices made "technology" projects engaging for them. Allowing them ample time to decorate, test, and adjust their cars kept them engaged in the project. Having the support of my fellow colleagues was invaluable.
I cannot wait until next year when we fully integrate the project into Class VI curriculum. I also floated the idea of using the gym, where we could set up the full 77 feet of track! Stay tuned!
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