MENSA Education & Research Foundation
Roller Coaster Mania!
Raise the energy level of your physical science class with this exciting hands-on activity. Applying their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy and Newton's laws of motion, young engineers use foam tubing and marbles to create...
DiscoverE
Build a Roller Coaster
Let the good times roll as young thrill seekers build a roller coaster on school grounds. Future engineers design and build a roller coaster from flexible tubing. The roller coaster is for a marble, so there will be plenty of room to let...
Anchorage School District
Roller Coaster Project
Emerging engineers work in teams to design pipe insulation roller coasters for marbles that meet specific parameters. They are required to label along the track the areas where kinetic and potential energy are highest and lowest, where...
Teach Engineering
Amusement Park Ride: The Ups and Downs in Design
Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Roller Coaster Marbles: How Much Height to Loop the Loop?
This is a really fun project even if you don't like going on roller coasters yourself. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much of an initial drop is required to get...
Other
Hstry: Roller Coaster Design Brief Template
Interactive site by STEM teacher Mariana Garcia-Serrato in a lesson on physics in which students design, budget for and analyze their own roller coasters.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Building Roller Coasters
In this hands-on activity students learn about the laws of physics by creating a marble roller coaster.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Converting Potential Energy to Kinetic Energy
If you'd like to investigate the physics of amusement park rides, then this project is for you. You'll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape, and see how much the marble's potential energy...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Amusement Park Physics: The Principles of Free Fall
An article describing free fall principles in roller coaster rides. In addition to the explanation of free fall, an experiment is described that allows you to test free fall with a cup of water. Part of a larger presentation on roller...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Centripetal Force
What keeps you in your seat of a giant loop-de-loop roller coaster? Surprisingly, it is not the seatbelt but the seat. It works because of something called centripetal force and it does much more than make a great roller coaster. In this...
Read Works
Read Works: Up to Speed
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the science behind roller coasters, including Kingda Ka, one of the tallest and fastest roller coasters in the world. A question sheet is available to help students build...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Amusement Park Ride: Ups and Downs in Design
This unit has students design and build foam tubing roller coasters. The design process integrates energy concepts as they test and evaluate their designs that address the task as an engineer would. The goal is for students to understand...