Now that the kids know all the basics of how a rollercoaster works I left them on their own for
today's challenge. They had the same basic supplies: foam pipe insulation tubes cut in half, masking
tape and a marble.
The Challenge: Build a traditional rollercoaster that relies on gravity to move the cars.
The Rules: The coaster must have two vertical loops. The marble must complete the entire track without coming off. No human force can be used to move the marble.
The kids worked together for about 45 minutes, using their knowledge of potential and kinetic energy, and came up with this working rollercoaster design.
After they showed me that it worked I had each of them tell me something about the coaster. They had to tell me where the coaster has potential energy, what kind of potential energy (elastic or gravitational), where there is kinetic energy, and where there is force and what kind (gravity, friction, etc.).
To finish out this mini unit study the kids are going to try to create the 2G2R Coaster this weekend.
Can't wait to see it!
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