Building a Roller Coaster

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...

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...

Ninth graders demonstrate the difference between potential and kinetic energy. In this inquiry based physics lesson, 9th graders design and build a model of a roller coaster using foam tubing to show how mass and height affect the...

Roller coasters rely on both kinetic and potential energy, but how much total energy does a roller coaster need? Scholars vary the mass of a coaster and the height of the initial hill. Graphs showing the types of energy and total energy...

Students study the physics used to design today's roller coasters.  In this engineering lesson students complete several activities including designing their own roller coaster. 

Students investigate how roller coasters are built. For this physics lesson, students research the laws of physics that affect roller coaster construction. Students create their own roller coaster design.

While building rollercoaster tracks for marbles is definitely age-appropriate for middle schoolers, the calculations on the lab sheets for this lesson are above most of them. Physics fledglings measure the potential energy at the...

Students discuss gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and the relationship between potential and kinetic energy. They create a working roller coaster from provided materials and criteria then evaluate each roller coaster. They...

Does the amount of a roller coaster's energy change as it goes along the track? Scholars investigate when a roller coaster has potential and kinetic energy. They observe the changes as it goes up the initial hill follows it throughout...

Navigate the ups and downs of learning about energy. Future engineers consider how potential and kinetic energy apply to roller coasters. They design a roller coaster of their own and then use computer design software to showcase their...