Learning Goals
Students will be able to explain how gravity, potential and kinetic energy, mass, speed, and forces affect the motion and safety of a marble rollercoaster.
Students will be able to construct and interpret graphs of rollercoaster test data to identify relationships among marble mass, speed, kinetic energy, and track performance.
Students will be able to design, build, test, and revise a paper or cardboard marble rollercoaster that meets criteria for hills, drops, turns, and a controlled collision or stopping feature.
Students will be able to evaluate peer feedback and test evidence to justify collaborative design decisions, revisions, and next steps.
Products
Marble Rollercoaster Engineering Notebook and Reflection
Each student documents multiple annotated track concepts, a comparison of design options, test data and graphs, scientific explanations, and personal design justifications. The notebook includes the midway gallery-walk reflection and final exit reflection describing feedback, revisions, new ideas, and learning about rollercoaster science.
Tested and Revised Cardboard Marble Rollercoaster Prototype
Each team plans, builds, tests, and revises a paper or cardboard track that safely moves a marble through hills, drops, and turns into a controlled stopping or collision feature. At the Rollercoaster Design Expo, the team demonstrates its prototype and uses graphs and trial evidence to explain performance, trade-offs, Newton’s Third Law, and revisions made after peer feedback.
No rubric has been generated yet.