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Teachers! Welcome to the 2026 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge! Would your class like to compete in a challenge for actual prizes? Try it out and see what they can do! This year's challenge is...
THE BALL RUN CHALLENGE!
From the sciencebuddies.org site: Can you build a ball ramp out of just paper and tape? How can you slow down the ball's path? In this year's Engineering Challenge, the more time it takes for the ball to reach the bottom, the higher your score!
Students worldwide are invited to participate in the 2026 Engineering Challenge and submit their results by March 31, 2026, to be entered in random drawings for $10,000 in prizes.
The online entry form will be open from February 22, 2026 – March 31, 2026.
We are excited to see how students solve this year's challenge!
You will need to sign up for a free Science Buddies account first to access all the materials and information.
LINKS:
K-5 Elementary School Ball Run Challenge
6-8 Middle School Ball Run Challenge
9-12 High School Ball Run Challenge
Student Instructions (all grades)
Please make sure to look carefully at the challenge - if you are going to enter a student or group, they are specific about quantity of materials used and type/size restrictions on items (such as type of tape or sizes of paper).
On the Main page there is information for you to read about designing, building, scoring, and how to submit your score to Science Buddies once you are finished. Scores may only be submitted between February 22 - March 31, 2026. So, there is plenty of time to rework the designs over and over!
You can also look at their past engineering challenges on the Main page and have fun with those as well.
Have a great time and Good Luck!
Send videos and pictures to rgreenwald@orangeusd.org to be shared on here!
We'd love to see the final results (even if you don't submit them to the official contest!)
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