Wooden Model Car Race (Pinewood Car Derby)
KernCounty Section

Our April 24, 1999, the Pinewood Car Derby conducted at the Girl Scout's 1999 GEMS (Girls enjoying Math and Science) event was a SUCCESS! The girls hammered, built their cars, and raced with great enthusiasm! The Scout leaders said it was the girls' favorite event of the day!

Please note that although we had delivered the car kits to the Girl Scout Headquarters in February, the cars were not distributed to their troops. SWE was not notified of this situation until April 21st, some three days before the race. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because SWE members helped the girls build their cars on the day of the race.

It was truly a rewarding experience to witness the girl scouts' ingenuity and energy in building these cars. The process of putting the cars together piqued their curiosity, imagination, and competitive spirit. They hammered, taped, nailed, and decorated the cars with zeal. They conducted test runs on the track and fine tuned their cars accordingly. The finale was to see their cars zoom down the track in the spirit of competition, and their eagerness in asking us "Can we do it again?"

Therefore, the success of the Derby race was more than we had anticipated. The participants found science to be fun, creative, and certainly a do-able event for girls. Observing this positive reaction from the participants revitalized SWE members' commitment to continue encouraging young ladies into the field of math and science. In addition, our members served as role models that will reinforced their view of science and women.

To acknowledge Exxon's generous grant, a poster stating that EXXON was the sponsor of the 1999 GEMS Pinewood Car Derby was displayed directly at the starting line of the race track.

10.2.1 In conducting the Pine Wood Car Derby at the Girl Scout's 1999 Girls Enjoying Math and Science (GEMS) event, we demonstrated that science is fun, not gender specific and open to all who are interested. In addition, this event provided an avenue for our SWE members to served as role models for these young ladies.

10.2.2 To make this Car Derby a reality, we purchased wooden car kits, wheels and axles, and car weights. These items were delivered to the Girl's Scout's main office for their distribution to their scout leaders. To encourage participation and competition, trophies and prizes (science and math computer programs) were awarded. A race track was borrowed from a local school.

Although SWE delivered the car kits to the Girl Scout's main office some two months before the event, the kits were not distributed to the troops. However, this turned out to be a very positive experience because the girls had to build their cars at the event under the guidance of our SWE members. Although building the cars onsite caused the sessions to be extremely tight on time, it was truly rewarding to witness the girl scout's curiosity, imagination, and competitive spirit in building their cars.

10.2.3 Principal outcomes were very positive. There were other science related sessions conducted at GEMS but the participants expressed that the Pinewood Car Derby was their "favorite event". Many thought that the Pinewood Car Derby was only for the boy scouts and had not considered it available for girls. The response to our session was so positive that girls who had not signed up for our session wanted to join us when they heard the loud cheers for the races and saw the hand-built cars. It was very satisfying to see these young ladies enthusiastically hammering and testing and then readjusting their cars. Science became a reality and a fun event for them.

The outcomes were more than we had anticipated. It was truly satisfying for SWE members to witness these young ladies so enthusiastic about a science related event. It re-energized our commitment to encourage and support young ladies in science and math.

This car derby had a positive impact for non-SWE members as well. Some of the mothers of the girl scouts attended this event with their daughters. They too were drawn to the car building and racing process and were helping their daughters to build their cars. In addition, several of the scout leaders became curious of the popularity of our derby and stopped to visit and observe. I like to think that they too realized that science is fun and that it is a viable subject for their daughters to pursue.

The Girl Scouts had the participants fill out a written evaluation of each of the sessions conducted at GEMS. We have requested the Girl Scout's main office to provide us with a copies of our Pinewood Car Derby's evaluations and will these available once we receive them.

10.2.4 We have applied for this Grant again to repeat this very successful event for the Girl Scout's year 2000 GEMS. We wish to build on the momentum and interest generated this year onto the following year. An increase in participation next year is expected given the positive verbal comments made by the participants and those who wanted to participate this year but had not sign up for the session.

10.2.5 The monies supplied was adequate for the project. We were fortunate that SWE was awarded $1,000 versus the original $600 requested. We had underestimated the cost of the car kits, the trophies and prizes, and we had not included any costs for car weights. These weights are needed to successfully build the cars. Although we were able to find a school that would loan us the race track at no cost, we found that the better race tracks required rental fees. In addition, supplies for decorating the cars were not included in the original budget. We improvised the decorating with the 2 markers we happened to have on hand but items like paint, additional markers, and decals would have been put to good use.

10.2.6 Yes, the time allotted for our project was adequate. However, it is always helpful to release the grant monies as early as possible so that we can purchase or order the necessary materials with the grant dollars in lieu of out-of-pocket expense.

10.2.7 Significant problems included car kits not being distributed by the Girl Scout's headquarters and the availability of the race tracks. Our original plan was for the girl scouts to build the cars during their regular scout meetings some two months prior to the GEMS event. As explained earlier, the kits were delivered to the Girl Scout's main office but they were not distributed to the troupes. Although this posed an initial problem for us, it soon turned into a very positive situation because this forced the cars to be built during the GEMS session. This became a team effort between the participants and SWE members. It was beneficial for the girls to use SWE members as resources for guidance and it was inspiring for SWE members to witness their enthusiasm and eagerness to build these cars. We look forward to continue the Pinewood Car Derby under this format next year. However, we will recommend to the Girl Scouts to allot us more time for our session so that we can better accommodate the building process onsite during the session.

The availability of the race track was also an issue. Unfortunately, the Boy Scouts held their Pinewood Car Derby races that same day and most of the race tracks were in use. In addition, we did not realize that the tracks were constructed differently and the cars have to be built to accommodate for the difference, and that some tracks required rental fees. We were fortunate that a school was willing to loan us their track at no cost.

We do not foresee future problems that cannot be avoided with better planning and coordination.

10.2.8 A poster stating that EXXON is the sponsor for the 1999 GEMS Pinewood Car Derby was displayed directly at the starting line of the race track. In addition, photographs were taken during the session and SWE will use these on our display during events such as Engineering week and Career Day. EXXON will be acknowledged on this display. It was our understanding that our local paper usually cover the GEMS event but did not do so this year. SWE plans to notify them and encourage them to cover the

Pinewood Car Derby races next year.