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 the basics of engineering design associated with kinetic and potential energy to build an optimal roller coaster. The marble starts with potential energy that is then converted to kinetic energy as it moves along the track. The diameter of the loops that the marble will traverse without falling out is depended on the kinetic energy obtained by the marble

Concepts

engineering, gravitational force, kinetic energy, potential energy, stem

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Additional Tags

amusement park physics, design process, lesson plan, integrated teaching and learning program and laboratory, teachengineering, civil engineering projects, kinematics and motion

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Classroom Considerations

• Knovation Readability Score: 3 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)