What happens when you combine the best elements of brush bots, derby racers and design thinking using common craft materials? Introducing the pizza racer project!

Use the Shake It mini to provide students a fun and engaging platform to explore engineering and design thinking as well as core engineering concepts including: relationship of mass and energy, transfer of energy, friction, and the scientific process. Links for Teacher slides and cardboard templates are provided. 

Each kit includes:

• 1 Shake it mini

• Racer templates

• Glue dots

• Pennies

You’ll need to provide your own pizza box or ramp.

 Download additional templates for the pizza racers here.  

Next Generation Science Standards that align with this project include:

• 2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
• 2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
• 4-PS3-2 Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
• 4-PS3-4. Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.
• 3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• 3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.