WAKULLA COUNTY, FL (WTXL) — Thirty-nine competitors spent weeks designing and building pinewood cars for the first-ever Wakulla STEAM Maker Derby — a collaborative event blending hands-on engineering with friendly competition.
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The derby is a collaborative effort between Wakulla STEAM, 4-H, the local Boy Scouts troop, and Friends of Wakulla Library. The race is set to kick off at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Extension Building.
Competitors got to design, cut, sand, and paint their own cars over the course of several building workshops held over the summer. Before each workshop, participants watched physics videos to help them think through their designs.
"So one of the things we do is the first 15 minutes of one of these workshops is we will be in the classroom and we'll watch some of these physics videos of how to make cars go fast. What are the things that actually cause cars to go fast versus other things that don't really work?" Tyson Folsom, president of Wakulla STEAM, said.
Folsom said the learning happening at these workshops goes deeper than it might appear.
"They get to look into the physics of how what makes the cars go fast, and even though it doesn't feel like they're learning, it doesn't feel like they are actually building engineering skills. They are, and that's the beauty of it. It's just for them, it's fun. For them, it's competing with their buddies, but for for them, really, it's they're actually getting to learn engineering," Folsom said.
The cars themselves reflect the creativity of the young builders. Racer Jace Perez named his car "Vortex" and had a clear strategy behind its design.
"I hope it's fast. It's probably gonna win," Jace said. "I thought it looked cool, honestly. And it also, I made it lighter, so I could put a lot of weights on it."
Fellow racer Erick Barnes had even bigger plans with his two cars.
"This is gonna be my big outlaw car. It's gonna be a monster truck shark. And this one is a race car one. Me and my dad are going to have a spoiler right here. You could see this line that we made on it to put a spoiler in it," Barnes said.
Not every design was built for speed — some were built for style. Racer Hazel Grace Perez said her car is shaped like a cake, complete with sprinkles.
Organizers say this is just the start of an annual event. Those who missed out this year will have another chance to compete next year.
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