With physics as your guide, adjust and test variables to model a gravity-defying rollercoaster. Teams record how changing variables such as height, mass, and hill position affect the run time. Using experiment results and their understanding of energy in a closed system, students will design the ultimate rollercoaster ride.
Minimum/Maximum class size: 16/32 students
6, 7 and 8
Conduct a series of controlled experiments, changing the variables of mass and drop height and seeing how these changes affect a marble’s potential energy and speed.
Observe how after the first lift, a roller coaster car is powered by gravity operating in a closed system.
Identify a force as something that can causes an object to move, or to change its speed or direction.
Measure, record and analyze the effects of changing the variables of mass, height, and speed.
This activity is funded, in part, through the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. Learn More