Project Description: This project is a great way to explore roller coaster physics by providing a fascinating look into how roller coasters work. Students complete a web hunt (student friendly links provided) to gather understanding of the history of roller coasters, laws of energy, major components of roller coasters and more! As a wrap up students use their new knowledge to build their own roller coaster using paper plates, tape and paper towel rolls. Student directions included! Materials: 2 file folders Tape Planning sheets Materials for building her roller coaster: Paper plates Tape Toilet rolls, Paper towel rolls Instructions for making the Roller Coaster Foldable Create a timeline of the history of roller coasters by using provided websites! Design a draft version of your roller coaster that will include at least 2 hills and a loop. Write an advertisement for your new roller coaster!

Create a short survey for your classmates about roller coasters, conduct the survey and communicate results by using appropriate graphs of your choosing. On index cards define important concepts and explain how they relate to roller coasters. Store them in this handy pocket! How the templates fit together! After building your paper plate roller coaster draw a new diagram that includes any adjustments or changes. Staple an index card and write about what went well and what needed to be changed Describe the four major elements of a roller coaster (lift hill, chain lift, catapult-launch lift and breaks. Use paper plates, tape, paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls and build a roller coaster. Test it with a marbles!

Instructions for making the Roller Coaster Foldable Step 1 Layer two file folders as shown and staple on the top and bottom. Staple Cut a 3 inch wide rectangle from the left hand file folder as shown in photo. Step 2 Step 3 Fold and tape the bottom flap down to make it into a pocket! Tape

The Ups and Downs of Roller Coasters Student Instructions If you'd like to investigate the physics of amusement park rides, then this project is for you! First you will complete a detailed Web-hunt to capture enough background information to build your own roller coaster track for marbles using paper plates, index cards and tape. Discover how much the marble's potential energy at the beginning of the track is converted to kinetic energy at various points along the track. 1) Watch this video and explain on an index card how you think this roller coaster works (using any scientific concepts that you may know). 2) Create a timeline of the history of roller coasters by using the following websites: 3) Create a short survey for your classmates about roller coasters, conduct the survey and communicate results by using appropriate graphs of your choosing. 4) Describe the four major elements of a roller coaster (lift hill, chain lift, catapult-launch lift and breaks. 5) Explain with a labeled diagram how roller coasters really work by exploring the relationship between potential energy and kinetic energy 6) On index cards define important concepts and explain how they relate to roller coasters: acceleration centripetal force energy force inertia momentum Sir Isaac Newton

7) Practice designing a roller coaster using the following website and the knowledge you have gained: 8) Design a draft version of your roller coaster that will include at least 2 hills and a loop. Be sure to look at your supplies to anticipate how your materials will work within the confines of your design! Consider the following questions while designing for Hill # 1: Is the hill height high enough to provide enough potential energy for the Coaster to make its way over the Hill #2 and through the loop? If the speed of the coaster is too high when it goes over the crest of a hill, what happens? Why? Think about the following questions when setting the height for Hill #2. Why does the height of the second hill affect the ability of the coaster to go safely around the loop? What settings for the heights of the first and second hill cause the coaster to either not get around the loop or crash through the loop? Is the friction set so that the Coaster may go fast enough to make its way down Hill #2 and through the loop? 9) Construct your roller coaster using the materials provided (paper plates, index cards, tape, toilet paper rolls). 10) What changes did you have to make between the original design of your rollercoaster and the final working model? 11) Create an advertisement for your new roller coaster, which includes the name and theme!

Thoughts and Definitions Final Design First Design