Activities

Marble Rollercoaster

Have you ever wanted to ride a rollercoaster? Let’s bring those twists and turns to our own living room with some physics fun!

Step 1: Find inspiration!

There are lots of great examples of marble rollercoasters (like this one, this one, or this one!) online. Find your favorites, determine what you like about them and how they were created.

Step 2: Gather Supplies!

Search your house for supplies to build your own (marbles, paper, tape, scissors, Legos, cardboard, toilet paper rolls, etc.).

Step 3: Start building.

Be sure to construct a tall and sturdy frame to build your track. The higher the track, the more potential energy it has. When that potential energy gets turned to kinetic energy, your marble will have enough speed to zoom through the turns, loops, and other obstacles!

Step 4: Test, Reflect, Improve!

Once you’re done building, send your marble down the track. Did it make it all the way to the end? How can you improve your design to make a faster, more exciting ride? How did friction affect your marble’s speed? The key to building an engineering masterpiece is to learn from each trial and always find ways to improve your design.

We want to see your rollercoaster! Share it with us:

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Did You Know?

The key to building an engineering masterpiece is to learn from each trial and always find ways to improve your design.

Right At School At Home sources a ton of activities and media from kid-friendly content creators around the web. We want to wish a big THANK YOU to every publisher, parent blogger, podcaster, etc. working to make parenting at home a little less stressful and a lot more fun.

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