Sun-Powered Camp Adventures: Girl Scouts Build, Race and Innovate at Camp USAGSO in 2025

August 28, 2025

This summer, nearly 100 Girl Scouts on opposite sides of the globe- in Taiwan and Mexico- came together for an unforgettable STEMinist @Camp experience hosted by USA Girl Scouts Overseas (USAGSO). STEMinist @Camp programs give girls the chance to dive into hands-on STEM activities, with each camper completing a “make-and-take” project they bring home.

This year’s challenge put the sun to work. Under bright summer skies, campers built, painted and raced their solar-powered cars- turning engineering concepts into a high-energy, real-world racing experience.

Engineering in the Sunshine
Thanks to the support of Brown Dog Gadgets, each Girl Scout assembled her solar race car from individual components. The design featured:

A small photovoltaic solar panel that converted sunlight into electrical energy.
A DC motor that transformed the electricity into rotational motion.
A pulley-and-belt drive system connecting the motor to the rear axle to move the wheels.
A custom paint job mixing pigments to create custom paint colors for the racers.

Campers placed their little solar panel on top of their car to power the motor. A simple pulley system made from a rubber band connected the motor to the rear wheels, making the cars zoom forward. The Girl Scouts could test out first hand how science concepts like friction and resistance impacted a moving object, their car.

Girl Scouts tested their cars on different surfaces, discovering how rolling resistance changed with texture. Girl Scouts made small changes to their pulleys or the tightening of their wheels to make their cars go faster or slower. Every car was a mini STEM lesson on wheels.

Science Meets Style
With the engineering complete, it was time for design. Campers became chemists, mixing pigments to create custom paint colors. Girl Scouts balanced style with function, each vehicle reflected its builder’s personality while staying tuned for maximum performance.

When the paint dried, the race was on! This diverse lineup of colorful, personality-filled solar cars put their designers’ STEM skills to the test on the track. These sun-powered adventures sparked more than just motion in their race cars- they ignited STEM curiosity and confidence. By blending hands-on science with creativity and teamwork, STEMinist @Camp empowered Girl Scouts to see themselves as future engineers, scientists and changemakers.

Ready to join the STEM fun? Learn more about the STEMinist happenings this fall, both virtually and in-person, here.