Drive Into STEM
Drive Into STEM Experience Kit
Host your own Drive Into STEM Challenge. Every student builds a car powered by a saltwater fuel cell β no battery, no flame β fuels it, drives it across the floor, and takes it home. The activity runs about an hour.
One box holds the whole event: individually packaged car kits with printed instructions, a facilitator guide written for people who have never taught a science lesson, posters and a press-release template for filling the room, and access to the training videos and the digital activity guide.
$15 per student. Shipping included. Nothing else to buy.
Drive Into STEM is a NAPA and Central Creativity program, anchored to November 8 for National STEM Day and proven across 11 pilot communities. You can host it any time of year.
Drive Into STEM Experience Kit
In the room
One hour.
A car each to take home.
Students sand the wheels true, fit the motor, mix the salt water and find out whether the thing they built will actually move. These are real events, run by schools, youth programs and NAPA stores.
Choosing above
One choice.
How many students you are expecting.
That is the only decision. From five cars up the price per student is the same at every size, shipping is included at every size, and the facilitator guide, the marketing materials and the training come with every order — they are not an upgrade you have to find. A single car is the car and its own printed instructions, for a teacher who wants to put one in their hands before committing a room to it.
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1 car
$15.00
$15.00 per student
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5 cars
$75.00
$15.00 per student
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10 cars
$150.00
$15.00 per student
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25 cars
$375.00
$15.00 per student
Running a bigger event, or several sites across a district? There is no cap on what you can order here, but talk to us first — 866-381-1760 — because above a few hundred students we can usually help with the logistics and the facilitator training rather than just shipping you more boxes.
What arrives
One box.
Nothing else to buy.
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The car kits
Individually packaged, one per student, with every part and printed instructions inside. They build it, fuel it, drive it and keep it.
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A facilitator guide
Step-by-step directions, troubleshooting and best practice for leading the activity. Written for people who are not science teachers, which means it works for the ones who are.
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Marketing materials
Posters, flyers and a press-release template, so you can fill the room without building a campaign from scratch.
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Training and digital resources
Live webinars, on-demand video and a digital activity guide. Access arrives with your order confirmation.
Why it works as CTE
Investigation, application, career —
in that order, in one hour.
Career exposure usually arrives as a talk. A student hears about a job, nods, and forgets it. This runs the other way round: they do the work first, and the career lands on something their hands already understand.
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01
Project-based investigation
The car has no battery and nothing in it burns. Students assemble the drivetrain and the fuel cell, mix the fuel, and work out how much to add and when — which means predicting, testing and adjusting rather than following a recipe to a known answer.
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02
Real-world application
What powers the car is a metal–air reaction, the same family of chemistry behind the batteries being built for grid storage and electric drivetrains right now. The thing moving across the floor is the demonstration; the energy conversion is the lesson.
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03
Career connection
A modern automotive technician works on high-voltage packs, driver-assistance sensors and diagnostic software, and gets there without a four-year degree. Most students never hear that, because nobody tells them before they have already chosen something else. The guide gives you that conversation, with the car still in their hands.
What is actually happening
Two salt packets dissolve in a quarter fluid ounce of water. Three to five drops go onto the cell with the pipette and the motor starts. The salt water dissolves a magnesium plate, and that reaction is the power supply — which is why the plate wears away and why a spare is in the box. It is the shortest route there is from a chemical reaction to a thing moving across the floor.
Who it suits
Upper elementary through high school. Younger students build it and see the reaction do work; older ones can measure, vary the fuel concentration and argue about why the output changes. The activity is the same in both rooms — what changes is how hard you push on the why.
Your part
What hosting actually involves
You are running an event that happens to have a science activity in the middle of it. The guide walks you through every part of that, and you can call us during an event if something goes wrong.
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Before
Train and promote
Work through the training videos or join a live webinar, put the posters up, pick your date, and set out tables with room for people to move around.
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On the day
Build, drive, talk
Guide the build, let them race, and have the careers conversation while the cars are still going. About an hour. The cars are the easy part — the conversation is the point.
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After
Tell us how it went
Send us your numbers, photos or a story. That feedback is what shapes the next round, and it is how we build the reporting other hosts rely on.
What happened at the pilot sites
Eleven communities ran it first.
Pilot phase results · the program is running nationwide
Before you order
The questions hosts ask first
Do I need a science background?
No. The training is built for people who have never led an activity like this — in the pilot, 93% of facilitators said they felt confident going in. Troubleshooting for the car builds is in the guide and the video, and you can call us during an event.
When can we hold it?
Any time. The program is anchored to November 8, National STEM Day, but nothing stops you running it in March. Pick the date that suits your calendar.
Where does it happen?
A classroom, a gym, a library, a community center, a shop floor. You need tables and room for people to move between them.
Is shipping included?
Yes, at every size. The price you see is the price you pay.
Can we post photos from our event?
Yes, and we would love you to. If minors are clearly identifiable you need a signed parent or guardian release first, and a release form comes in your event materials. The simplest approach is to shoot the cars and the hands rather than faces, and if you are hosting at a school or community site, follow their policy as well.
I only want a few cars, not a whole event.
Take the single car above. It is the same car and the same $15, and it comes with its own printed instructions — enough to build one on a desk and see what the activity is. What it does not carry is the event around it: the facilitator guide, the posters and the press release start at five cars. If you want several cars but no event, the Saltwater Car Kit sells the same car in packs of five, ten and twenty-five on its own.
Do we have to involve a NAPA store?
No. Drive Into STEM was built with NAPA and NAPA stores host it in their own communities, but this kit is yours to run wherever you are, with or without them.
Are you a NAPA store?
Drive Into STEM is a NAPA and Central Creativity program, and NAPA stores host it in their own communities — families through the door, and a trade the children in the room had not considered. If you want to become more active in your learning community, there is a version of this built for you.