The concept behind the activity
A number of teams, working in separate areas, are each given the task of constructing a vehicle and developing a marketing concept for it. At the end, their ‘soapboxes’ are presented in a test drive and are put through an MOT to test them for safety. A versatile tool that puts the fun back into learning.
Facilitating the activity
Each team is given the task of constructing a vehicle complete with brakes and a steering system. Each soapbox vehicle should be capable of transporting one person and will be powered by up to two HP (Human Power). The vehicle will also need a logo and a slogan to go with it. One major sticking point in the task: the vehicles should be as similar in construction as possible, but differently equipped. During the development phase, the leaders of the construction teams meet in a separate area to talk everything through in detail. In the ‘Change’ variant, the teams work for a specific length of time on their vehicle and are then re-deployed to continue working on another team’s vehicle. The learning project culminates in the MOT inspection of the vehicle followed by a soapbox vehicle parade.
