It was a wonderful winter day in Cedar Park, Texas where STEMwood Derby was born on January 29th, 2022. The Scouts and families of Pack 170 had been building and tuning their racers for weeks. The Pack’s Derby King, Mr. Nick, opened his garage with a well-stocked array of tools and materials to all participants on several occassions so they could create their masterpieces.
Thanks once again to Cedar Park Nissan for opening their doors and their showroom floor to Pack 170 for our first-ever STEMwood Derby!
The word “masterpiece” may actually be an understatement. We had many of the all-popular wedge design but each was unique. A wedge with fun and interesting splashes of color, an underwater astronaut (aquanaut?) wedge, and even a wedge of swiss cheese. There was a pencil racer, a hot dog racer, hot rod racers, and there was even a Pinewood Track racer. That’s right, a Pinewood racer shaped and decorated as a 4-lane pinewood track complete with 4 tiny Pinewood racers. And they were all fast, some faster than others of course. The best part was the excitement in everyone’s eyes when they raced.
We did some things different this year that really made a difference. First, we abandoned the traditional den heats we have done in the past, racing Tigers together, and Wolves together, etc. Instead we did mixed heats with all ranks, siblings, and adults all in the same heat. There were many benefits to doing mixed heats. Families stayed the whole time because they might be racing at any time. That meant that we could present the trophies, medals, certificates, and patches right there at the end of the event. Because they were mixed, no one was sure how they placed in their den or group until the final results were announced so energy was peaked the whole time.
Mixed heats also saved time overall. With Den heats, we often had empty lanes on our 6-lane track. To be fair, we race each car in each lane to eliminate any lane advantage. So, we would have empty lanes, not just once, but 6 times for each den with more or less than 6 Scouts. With mixed heats, we filled each lane for each heat so we were able to run fewer heats. That made it easier for families to commit to staying for the whole event.
“I don’t think we’ve ever learned this much at a pinewood derby before.”
“So when a skydiver opens their parachute, they slow down because they have more area – and more drag!”
“But, gravity is greater on Earth, so shouldn’t it fall faster here on Earth?”
So, why do we call it a STEMwood Derby? Because a Pinewood Derby is all about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. For generations, racers have been applying STEM principles and practices to shave just a fraction of a second from their times. Maximum weight, weight placement, polished axles, angled axles, streamlined body shapes, and more.
So, we held a NOVA classroom in conjunction with the Pinewood Derby to teach the Scouts the very principles that their cars were using and why those things worked. “Up and Away” NOVA was a great fit. We conducted the NOVA sessions between sets of heats. Scouts and siblings alike joined in to learn about gravity, friction, drag, terminal velocity, and more. At the end of the event, all of the participating Wolfs, Bears, Webelos, and AOLs had earned a NOVA. Participating Lions and Tigers are not eligible for NOVA awards, so they received a Pack certificate commending their achievement.
It took just a few hours to run all of the heats and complete the Up and Away” NOVA, a record time. The last thing to do was to present the awards. We had 10 special category certificates for outstanding design, like “Tastiest” for food themed cars, “Best Scouting Spirit” for cars that exemplify Scouting, and so on. These awards could be earned by anyone, but the trophies and medals were for Cub Scouts only. We awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals for each den and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies for the Pack best times. We were very pleased to have General Manager of Cedar Park Nissan, Dustin Krieger, Present the awards.
S.T.E.M. Fact
In 1687 Isaac Newton published “Principia” – and in doing so, shaped the future of humankind.
S.T.E.M. Fact
Our pinewood derby cars can maximize terminal velocity by reducing drag and cross-sectional area.
S.T.E.M. Fact
Potential energy is the “engine” of a pinewood racer.
Recent Comments