About

A soap box car is a simple cart for racing downhill using only gravity. A soap box car will have three or four wheels, a seat, a steering wheel, and may also have breaks. They are so called because they used to be made from pieces of wood from wooden crates. Nowadays soap box cars can be made out of any suitable material, such as wood, aluminium, steel, or fibreglass reinforced plastic.
​​​​​​​

Your task

Design a soap box car for competing in downhill races. Your soap box car must have at least three wheels, a cockpit, steering system, and breaks to stop the car. The cockpit where the driver sits must be comfortable and must protect the driver in case of a crash. Your soap box car may only move with gravity. Pedal drive or a motor are not allowed. Construct a working model of your soap box car and race it. Work on this project in a team with a group of your classmates.

The design thinking stages

Follow the five design thinking stages to ensure that you think of everything and do everything necessary in order to succeed in your design project. First, you must UNDERSTAND the design topic and the needs of the users. With that understanding, you can DECIDE what is important to your design solution and what is not so important. Then you CREATE to come up with ideas and improve them. Then you BUILD your chosen design idea in a physical form and improve it through trial-and-error. Finally, you TEST your built design idea to get the opinions of users. Use the methods from the Design Thinking for Schools website as you follow the design thinking stages.
 

Note for teachers

Designing and building a soap box car is a big task for students of Level III (12–14 years old). The teacher must approve of the project before beginning. They must consider:

• Do the students have a place to install and test a soap box car?
• Do they have permission to install and test a soap box car at that location?
• Can they afford to build a working model? They will need a wood or steel frames, material for the body, and cart or bicycle accessories to build a soap box car.

CAUTION

The students will need professional help to build a soap box car.

• Working with steel and other materials is dangerous.
• Metal and wood edges can be sharp and dangerous, wires can poke your eyes.
• Get professional help with cutting and preparing metal and glass parts.
• Only build with adult supervision.
• You must be trained to use hand tools.
• Wear protective equipment like gloves, and eyeglasses.
• Do not use power tools.

​​​​​​​Read the guide for teachers on Safety for the BUILD Stage for Level III to safely supervise this design project.