Take the Science Buddies Engineering Challenge!
Rubber Band Car—2024 Engineering Challenge
Can you build a car powered by nothing but a rubber band? The farther the car goes, and the fewer materials you use to build it, the higher your score. Students across the globe are invited to try the 2024 Engineering Challenge and submit their results by March 18, 2024, to be entered (where eligible) in random drawings for $10,000 in prizes. We are excited to see what you build!
The online entry form is open from February 18, 2024 - March 18, 2024 (see rules and eligibility below).
Challenge Instructions
Challenge instructions are available in these four formats:
- Rubber Band Car Lesson Plans
- Student Instructions for Rubber Band Car Challenge
Who Can Enter
Primary and secondary school students in all countries are invited to participate in this challenge. Students can work individually or in teams of up to four students. Each student team should follow the challenge instructions to build and test their car. Teams may try the challenge as many times as they want but can only submit one score.
Students may participate on more than one team, as long as the teams are formed under different circumstances and have different car designs. For example, a student can be on a team formed in their school and participate on a team formed at a youth program, public library, or scouting program. The student may not submit identical designs for both teams.
The highest scoring teams, regardless of country of origin, who follow all the building and testing rules listed in the challenge instructions, will be publicly recognized at the conclusion of the challenge on the challenge results page. In addition, all teams who participate will receive (through an email to their adult contact) a certificate of participation.
Prizes and Eligibility
Teams that follow the rules in the challenge instructions, are from eligible locations, and submit an entry using the online submission form will be entered in random prize drawings for ten $1,000 USD prizes. Eligible locations include United States (including American Samoa, DoD schools, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands), Canada, and Australia. Random drawing prizes are not dependent on the team's score. The prize money will be awarded to the team's sponsoring school or nonprofit organization. A school or organization may receive a maximum of one prize. The more teams a school or organization submits scores for, the higher their odds of winning. Make sure to enter all of your teams!
Homeschool students in the United States, Canada, and Australia are also eligible to be entered in the random prize drawings. Should a homeschool team win, they will be asked to choose a youth or educational nonprofit organization to receive the prize money.
Submitting Your Results
Submissions will be accepted from February 18, 2024, through March 18, 2024. All submissions must be made through our online entry form. The submission form will close on March 18, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.
All submissions will require:
- Name and email address of an adult contact
- Name and street address of the sponsoring school or organization (homeschool teams may put a home address)
- A team name (the name must be in good taste and cannot contain any offensive words or slurs)
- Students' ages
- Team score
- Two photos:
- A full view showing the student team and the car. If sharing photos of students violates your school's/organization's photo policy, you may submit photos without students.
- A close-up view showing only the car.
Social Media
We know that the Science Buddies Engineering Challenge is a highlight every year for many schools, families, and organizations. If you are posting about your fun with this year's challenge, we would love to hear about it! Use #ScienceBuddiesEngineeringChallenge and tag us on these platforms:
Note that tagging us on social media does not constitute an official entry. You will still need to fill out a submission form for your team(s).
Contacting Us
If you have questions, please consult the FAQ. If you do not find the information you need there, please contact us at engineeringchallenge@sciencebuddies.org.
Past Engineering Challenges
- 2023 Ping Pong Pickup Challenge
- 2022 Ball Run Challenge
- 2021 Tallest Tower Challenge
- 2020 Cricket Wicket Knockdown Challenge
- 2019 Volleyball Machine Challenge
- 2018 Ball Launcher Challenge
- 2017 Follow the Flow Challenge
- 2016 Marble Machine Challenge
- 2015 Balloon-Powered Car Challenge