Roller Coaster Lab

The best science lessons are those that are a win/win for students and teachers, and this is one of them. Students win because they get to have fun designing a 15 foot-long roller coaster track that a marble rolls on. And you win because your students are doing a complete STEM project. And since 90% of the instruction in this lesson won’t come directly from you, it’s also inquiry-based.

As presented, this is a 3-day lesson:

• Day 1 begins with a short intro., then students spend the rest of the period building their track.
• On day 2 they finish building and start graphing their coaster.
• On day 3 we’ll apply formulas and principles of speed, velocity, and energy.

Teacher notes, 3 Student Handouts, editable versions of handouts