I'm a science moron, so watching videos like this one really simplified it for him and me, who are pretty much at about the same understanding of physics. He loves science though, and ate up the principles he teaches with the blocks.


Watch this video on YouTube


Then my son picked out a design that wasn't necessarily the most aerodynamic, but he was willing to sacrifice that just a little bit for a car he thought looked cool. There's an older guy in our ward who is an incredible woodworker, and he has all sorts of lathes, saws, sanders, a drill press, etc. My son adores the guy like a grandpa, so we went over there, and he taught me and my son how to use these awesome machines. My son was in heaven. When it was safe, my son used them on his own. When it wasn't, we used it together (both of us with a hand on the car). A couple times I took over. The guy also has a laser etcher, so my son got to etch his name and a number on the car. It looked pretty sweet.

We tried to follow the tips the guy mentioned about weight placement (potential energy) and sanding wheels/axles and canting wheels to reduce lost energy through friction. We chipped the axle hole putting in the axle, and then accidentally superglued two wheels to the side of the car trying to fix it. Had to rip them out, re-sand, and reinsert them.

We got second place to another father/son duo who had a similar experience working together (although he's an engineer, so he didn't need the video to teach his son). I felt bad for the kids whose dads didn't take the time to both teach and learn together with the goal of being competitive. One kid's car couldn't even go down the track because his dad threw some weights on the bottom of the car when he got there, and it rubbed on the track. The boy left crying and embarrassed. A lot of people hate pinewood derby. It was the most valuable time I've spent with my son in a really long time, despite a little bit of stress when we chipped the axle hole.