As a young child Shirley Ann Jackson explored the science of aerodynamics, or how objects move through the air, by building and racing her own soapbox cars. She used materials she found in her neighborhood and her father's workshop to create a car body, a steering wheel, brakes, and wheels for her gravity-powered car. Now a particle physicist, Shirley doesn't need her father's workshop to do her work. She uses her mind to explore the tiniest pieces of matter.

In this activity you can make your own miniature Pinewood Derby race car and experiment with many of the same principles. Get ready, get set, now go to the races!

Note: Building the car requires adult supervision, for safety reasons.

Print this page, What You Do: Race Your Car, the Car Design Printable, the Off to the Races Data Sheet, and the Off to the Races Journal.

Trace your block of wood on your piece of paper. The car needs to fit the dimensions in the tip box. Remember, your car is three-dimensional, so you'll need to trace each side.

In your traced outline, design the body of your car. You can be creative with your design, or use your sample Car Design Printable.

You might want to trace the block of wood a few times and come up with a couple of different looks.

Cut out your paper shape and trace it on your block. Do this for each side.

Saw the wood to match your design. Be careful! You can use the chisel and files to do the small, delicate work of edges and points.

Check to make sure that your car meets the suggested specifications and recut as needed. Make any adjustments. You might need to trim your car if it is too long, wide, or tall.

Attach the wheels to the bottom of your car. If you are using a kit, hammer one wheel and axle set into each groove in the wood. Glue your axles to make sure they are in tight. If you are not using a kit, attach one wheel onto one of your four nails and hammer one nail-wheel into each corner of your block of wood. Make sure that your wheels line up!

Test out your wheels to make sure that they rotate smoothly.

If you like you can decorate your car with stickers, decals, and paint.

Put the lubrication on your axles.

Now it's time to race your car! Use your Off to the Races Data Sheet to record your times.

Use this sheet to record your car's times as you run a series of races.

Make a stack of books. Place one end of your heavy cardboard or wood board on the stack to create a ramp that you can roll your car down. Don't move the ramp in between trial runs because this will influence your results.

Mark the Start and Finish lines with masking tape. Set up your ramp as the starting line. Choose a point past the end of the ramp for your finish line.

Put your car on the Start Line and then release it. If there are any problems with the car or the ramp, fix them now.

Grab your stopwatch and get going! Race your car three times and record your observations below.

Add the three times and then divide by three to find your average time. Record the answer in the average column.

Add weights to your car and race it again three times. Find the average time of these races. Then think about how you might modify your car even more to make it go faster. Would you add more weights or change the placement of the weights?

If you modify your car further, test each modification three times and note the speeds below. Scientists do many trials to get the best results and adjust for any errors!

In your Off to the Races Journal, write down some of the things you learned from your trial runs.

When a scientist finishes an experiment, she always writes up her notes and analyzes her data. Write your analysis here, starting with a few simple questions.