Making a vehicle for an egg race

Designing and making a vehicle to transport an egg in a race

In this Easter STEM activity students will design and make a car that can safely carry an egg in a racing event and compete against other designs.

This challenge is aimed at secondary school students and could be used as a main lesson activity to teach learners about modelling and prototyping, or as part of a wider scheme of learning covering manufacturing processes and techniques. It could also be used as part of an introduction to aerodynamics.

This is one of a set of free resources designed to allow learners to use Easter themes to develop their knowledge and skills in Design and Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This resource focuses on designing and making a vehicle to transport an egg in a racing event.

Download our free activity sheet to see an example of how an egg racer could be made. This could be made to assist the development of workable ideas. This could be used to guide lower ability learners or for learners who produce a design idea that would otherwise not be practical to make.

The final vehicles need to be placed on a slight slope for the race. For example, this could be a natural slope, or a plank or board rested on the table. As an alternative to a direct race, the evaluation could be based on the time taken to go down the ramp (which could allow the integration of maths, for example to calculate the average velocity) or determining which vehicle continues furthest along the floor after coming down the ramp.

Tools/resources required

Card
Straws
Wooden dowels or skewers with sharp points removed
Wheels (wood or card) or plastic bottle tops
Card tubes
Masking tape
Glue
Glue guns if available
Scissors
Rules or rulers for measuring

The engineering context

Engineers make models and prototypes to test ideas and see how they will work. For example, they will put a model of a car in a wind tunnel to see how aerodynamic the design is. This helps to make designs that use the minimum amount of fuel.

Suggested learning outcomes

By the end of this fun school project students will be able to design and make a vehicle to transport an egg in a race and they will have an understanding of what is mean by ‘aerodynamics’.

Download the free Make a Vehicle for an Egg Race activity sheets, including a bonus crossword using the words from the activity to enhance learning.

All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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