Mini Car Program
To further promote its mission to “educate and inspire youth,” the International Soap Box Derby® developed the Soap Box Derby Mini Car Program. The program is designed for students in classrooms, enrichment, after-school, and summer programs.
Engage Your Students With
Mini Car Activities
This innovative STEAM program features easily customized, all-inclusive and engaging learning activities and materials.
Grades 3 – 6
Mini Car #34 Program
This six- to eight-hour STEM program contains five activities where students will:
- Explore and learn about the Soap Box Derby, its history, and gravity-racing
- Learn about different tools, usage, and safety tips
- Identify and create logos for their Mini Car shells
- Construct, test, analyze data, and fine-tune their Mini Cars for a race
- Compete in a Mini Car Race and showcase what they’ve learned.
Grades 5 – 6
Mini Car #56 Program
This sixteen- to eighteen-hour STEM program contains nine activities where students will investigate the different driving forces of Soap Box Derby Racing – forces that not only apply to the physics of racing and its outcome but also to the “impactful” force that Soap Box Derby Racing has had on young people’s lives throughout its history.
Engaging, investigative clues and activities will lead students in the discovery of these driving forces of Soap Box Derby Racing and factors that may impact a race’s outcome.
Students weigh their mini cars.
Finished mini cars on display.
Program Content Areas
Physical Science
Scientific Inquiry, Forces & Motion, Weight & Mass, Friction, Speed, Simple Machine, Energy.
Technology
Research, Critical Thinking, Innovation, Problem-Solving, Collaboration, Communication.
Engineering
Engineering Design Process, Define Problem, Assess Needs, Develop Solutions, Design and Create a Prototype, Test, Refine, Evaluate, Communicate.
Arts
Visual & Fine Art, Creativity & Expression, Analyzing & Interpretation, Application, Connecting, Production.
Mathematics
Measurement (standards & metric), Basic Math Concepts, Decimals, Fractions, Geometry, Graphing, Slope, Problem Solving, Time, Weight.
Start Your Mini Car Program!
Each Mini Car Program, when ordered as a package, comes complete with Mini Car kit, student activity booklet, SBD ruler, and STEM certificate. Mini Car kits, shells, and other Mini Car items may also be purchased separately in our online store.
