Updated: June 17, 2022
By Jessica Mellon , and Christine Allred

EC-14  |  June 2022

4-H STEM Adventures: Challenge 4-Marble Roller Coaster

YOUTH WILL BUILD A MARBLE ROLLER COASTER THAT MOVES A MARBLE TOP TO BOTTOM

GUIDED VS. EXPLORATORY APPROACH

Adult facilitators have the option of choosing either exploratory or guided approaches to each challenge. Both approaches have pros and cons. Choose the approach that best suits the youth with whom you are working.

EXPLORATORY

EXPLORATORY APPROACH

Encourages creativity and deductive reasoning, lacks structure, takes more time, and risks frustration for the youth. Generally best for out-of-school-time settings, large blocks of time, and youth ages 11 to 13.

Icon of a carboard box

MATERIALS

Paper plates with tall sides, paper bowls, paper towel rolls, plastic cups, blocks, hot glue, scissors, tape.

Outline of an open book

VOCABULARY

POTENTIAL ENERGY: Stored energy or energy of position. When the marble is in place at the top of the roller coaster, it has POTENTIAL ENERGY because it is in a high position and a tendency to roll down the track due to gravity.

 

KINETIC ENERGY: Energy of motion. While the marble is rolling down the track, it has KINETIC ENERGY.

4-H Life Skills Icon

4-H LIFE SKILL

CRITICAL THINKING: You will need to THINK CRITICALLY about how to adjust the roller coaster track and supports to keep the marble on the track.

DO

YOUTH COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY

Watch the Challenge
 

Video length: 1:27

GUIDED

GUIDED APPROACH

Provides structure, promotes good instruction-following habits, increases rate of success, and limits creative solutions. Generally best for classroom settings, finite blocks of time, and youth ages 8 to 10.

Icon of a carboard box

MATERIALS

15 paper plates with tall sides, 10 plastic cups, scissors, tape and a marble.

Outline of an open book

VOCABULARY

POTENTIAL ENERGY: Stored energy or energy of position. When the marble is in place at the top of the roller coaster, it has POTENTIAL ENERGY because it is in a high position and a tendency to roll down the track due to gravity.

 

KINETIC ENERGY: Energy of motion. While the marble is rolling down the track, it has KINETIC ENERGY.

4-H Life Skills Icon

4-H LIFE SKILL

CRITICAL THINKING: You will need to THINK CRITICALLY about how to adjust the roller coaster track and supports to keep the marble on the track.

DO

YOUTH COMPLETE THE ACTIVITY

Watch the Challenge
 

Video length: 1:27


STEP 1. IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

Design and build a roller coaster track for a marble to go from a start position, down a track, to a cup at the bottom.

STEP 2. IMAGINE SOLUTIONS

Think about all of the possible ways you can make your roller coaster. You can cut the curved rims off of paper bowls and paper plates to make the track for the marble to roll down. Tape the rims of cups together to make the supports that will raise the start of the track.

STEP 3. PLAN POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (SKETCH IT ON A PIECE OF PAPER)

STEP 4. CREATE YOUR MARBLE ROLLER COASTER

  1. Use your scissors to cut the curved rims from your paper plates or bowls.
     
  2. Tape the rims together to make a track.
     
  3. Tape cups together to make a support structure, and tape the start of the track to the top of the cups to increase the potential energy.
     
  4. Place a cup at the end of the track to catch the marble.
     
  5. Try it! The POTENTIAL ENERGY of the ball at the top of the track becomes kinetic energy as it travels down the track.

STEP 5. IMPROVE YOUR DESIGN

Do you need to change anything to make your roller coaster better? Perhaps you need to add more materials to help the marble stay on the track around the curves. You can go back to Step 1, and make the changes to improve your roller coaster.

GUIDE YOUTH THROUGH THE REFLECTION PROCESS

See a solution here
 

Video length: 0:59


Did the marble travel faster in some parts than others? Why do you think that is?

What was the most difficult part of creating the roller coaster? How did you use CRITICAL THINKING to overcome the challenge?

Where did the marble have the greatest amount of POTENTIAL ENERGY? The least amount?

CHALLENGE THE YOUTH TO APPLY WHAT THEY’VE LEARNED TO OTHER PARTS OF THEIR LIVES

What are other examples of POTENTIAL and KINETIC ENERGY in your everyday life?

Why do engineers need to have an understanding of POTENTIAL and KINETIC ENERGY?

Download Challenge 4: Marble Roller Coaster Curriculum (PDF)

4-H STEM Adventures: Facilitator Guide

  • Home Page

  • Challenge 1: Marble Maze

  • Challenge 2: Tall Tower

  • Challenge 3: Catapult

  • Challenge 5: Mini Golf Course

  • Challenge 6: Mobile

JESSICA MELLON
jmellon2@umd.edu

CHRISTINE ALLRED
cmallred@umd.edu

Challenge 4: Marble Roller Coaster is a supporting document from the 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14) and is part of a collection produced by the University of Maryland Extension within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The information presented has met UME peer-review standards, including internal and external technical review. For help accessing this or any UME publication contact: itaccessibility@umd.edu

For more information on this and other topics, visit the University of Maryland Extension website at extension.umd.edu

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