Discovering Engineering Through the Pinewood Derby

This is a compensated post written in conjunction with the DiscoverE blog tour. All opinions are my own.

With so much emphasis on teaching kids science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics, as parents, we can feel guilty about not doing more, intimidated by the concepts, or feel empowered by the fact that even if we don’t know the answers, we can work with our children to problem solve together. This is what we did last weekend as our kids prepared for the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. With blocks of wood in hand from their kits and ideas about the cars they wanted to create, the new challenge was coming up with a feasible design that could be fashioned from a block of pine.

Conversations about the Pinewood Derby have been going on in our house for weeks. Our 7 year old son wants to earn bragging rights by having a fast car that will hopefully earn him a top finisher spot in his age group like last year. His sister wants an innovative design that will be unlike any other vehicle in the Sibling Race or in the Girl Scout race that follows the Cub races but will also be fast down the track.

Fast cars require talking about engineering principles as they apply to car design. Kids may not know they’re acting like engineers but by dreaming up creative and practical solutions to a problem, they’re embracing the role of an engineer as they research car designs, think about the shape that’s needed to create an aerodynamic vehicle, and strategize about how to best weight the car to propel it to victory is a hands-on engineering challenge that both kids embraced. As Pinewood Derby newbies last year, there were definitely many conversations about the things that were done and worked well and some things that want to try this year.

Trying to help my kids with their cars also has meant doing some research on my own. I’ve learned so much about the Pinewood Derby and the engineering principles behind the cars that I shared Engineering Secrets of Fast Pinewood Derby Cars through a recent post on Babble.

With their cars taking shape the finishing details will be applied this weekend. I don’t doubt that there will be endless obsessive compulsive tweaking by both kids in the next couple weeks before race day but I happen to love what the Pinewood Derby represents. It’s a hands-on project with a lot of problem solving components that tend to challenge a child’s critical thinking skills and creativity while getting some experience with some wood working tools too! The Pinewood Derby is a great example of getting kids involved in project based learning to truly begin to understand the value of learning math and science.

If you aren’t a Cub Scout family and aren’t participating in a Pinewood Derby race, there are other ways to integrate engineering into your home. One great resource is DiscoverE, a year-round engineering resource for teachers and parents looking for fun introductory engineering activities and videos. As a coalition of hundreds of organizations and thousands of volunteers who work with schools and community groups to help people understand the critical role of engineering in our lives, DiscoverE’s resources also provide incredible information about engineering educational options and careers, field trip ideas, and more.

This year my family and I will be joining DiscoverE in Washington, D.C. for the Future City competition. Taking place during Engineers Week (February 16-22), Future City requires middle school students to conceptualize and design cities of the future. The four month process includes research, design, solving an issue for their city, and building a scale model which is presented to a panel of judges. I’m excited to expose my kids to a different aspect of engineering by showing them what middle school kids from around the country are doing as part of Future City.

About DiscoverE

The mission of DiscoverE is to sustain and grow a dynamic engineering profession through outreach, education, celebration and volunteerism. DiscoverE supports a network of thousands of volunteers in its partner coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies. Together we meet a vital need: introducing students, parents, and educators to engineering, engaging them in hands-on engineering experiences and making science and math relevant. For more information, visit www.discovere.org. For more information about DiscoverE, visit their Facebook page.