What makes roller coasters go so fast?

“The mystery was wonderful! My students worked together to trouble shoot to save the poor bumper car from the hungry alligators, while learning basic physics concepts. We had two roller coaster tracks set up at Open House for students to share their learning with their families. Kids from all grade levels came to my room to experiment with it. It was a hit with the whole school and proved to parents and admin that Mystery Science is worthy of continued funding. ”

· Melissa · Admin

“ Students were so engaged and loved the clips about the roller coasters. Many of my students have never experienced a roller coaster and they really worked well together to complete the experiments. It was wonderful to see them experiment with the height of their track. ”

· Susan · Teacher

“My students loved this! They found it so interesting and it was so easy to set up the experiment. They had so much fun and even began to think of ways to make the roller coaster even more fun! Highly recommended. ”

· Samantha · Teacher

“The three clear experiments outlined with the graphics so every student could understand what to do and where and how to record their observations. The videos are always right to the point with great questions. Loved it! ”

· Noelle · Teacher

“Kids were absolutely thrilled with every step! The challenge of getting the marble to stop short of the "alligator" really stretched their brains. I heard from several parents about how much their children talked about this at home.”

· Carolyn · Teacher

“Watching the students interact and work together to create their own coasters. The excitement in the room was epic!”

· Jean · Teacher

“I love how this mystery is organized! It did an excellent job of guiding the students to learn about how height is related to stored energy as well as energy transfer through collision! ”

· Robbie · Teacher

“Students were able to recall and comprehend the concept of transfer of energy. The lesson was sequential, starting from the basics to advancing their knowledge and understanding gradually. Thank you so much.”

· Muraj · Teacher

“The kids did a great job of implementing and recording their work. They were able to draw conclusions about the how the potential energy related to the height of the track and how impact effects it.”

· Jeannine · Teacher

“So engaging. The students actually groan when we have to stop science to go to recess. Unheard of with other science. Thank you!!!”

· Lisa · Teacher

“The activity went smoothly and by the third worksheet my students were able to articulate advice they would give to Annie. Not only that, they were coming up with numerous other ideas that they also wanted to try (which is what scientists do!)”

· Marilyn · Teacher

“The students had a great time and were very excited about doing the experiment. The video was awsome and easy for the students to understand.”

· Kelly · Teacher

“The video to introduce the lesson provided opportunities for a lot of good discussion. My students were very engaged in the activities. This was a fun way to learn about energy.”

· Patty · Teacher

“Students really enjoyed experimenting with the marbles. I slightly altered the lesson and spent more time allowing the students to change the height of their hills. Students were able to get both marbles in the cup at different heights and then we charted the heights to find patterns. Great lesson and my 6th graders loved it! ”

· Anna · Teacher

“The level of student engagement was super high! They did a terrific job talking about the transfer of energy in experiment #3. This was easy to set up and easy for the students to initiate after the video.”

· Denise · Teacher

“What a hit! The kids loved making the tubes and experimenting with the marbles. This time I did plan ahead and rounded up or order the materials. In fact our next lesson next week calls for the tubes again. The students are going to love this. I really like the explanations of the concept (tell Doug he does a really great job), and I appreciate the extended activities.”

· Kim · Teacher

“Oh. My. GOODNESS! This was so epicly fun! I was able to set my 4th grade classes free with the packet and they excelled! What a great series of experiments to help them see what determines the energy exchange. So amazing!”

· Brenna · Teacher

“This lesson thought of everything. I have been trying to teach this exact concept using the kits that we got at our school and always came up short. This lesson and activity were just what my class needed to understand and stay engaged the whole period. Thank you so much!”

· David · Teacher

“Kids loved testing out the bumper cars! As a teacher I love the "extras" that go along with each mystery! Great ways to enhance and excite kids about science without having to search the internet for activities! It's all right here!”

· Jennifer · Teacher

“The students absolutely loved it! The directions were so easy to follow. The worksheets kept them accountable and the images on them were so very helpful. I used to be scared to teach science because finding good lessons and gathering the materials was already a lot to handle, but understanding the concepts enough to teach them was just too much! Not enough time! Thank you for this wonderful curriculum. I am hooked!!!”

· Jennifer · Teacher

“This was really an engaging lesson. The students really learned a lot. They are using sophisticated vocabulary and really thinking. I appreciate the videos and the step-by-step directions. My students cannot wait for Mystery Science!”

· Nancy · Teacher

“My students were so engaged! I even had a student come give me a hug for doing this lesson. Awesome!!”

· Jessica · Teacher

“The kids really got excited about trying out the different spacings between marbles to see if they could prevent them from going into their cups. They quickly wanted to modify their tracks so that they would have a higher starting point to accelerate their first marble. They worked hard toward getting a bigger BUMP for each marble, without running any of them into the cup. ”

· Rebecca · Teacher

“Besides learning about energy and transfer of energy the students were really using their imaginations to try different things to make the coaster work. They wanted to try many other ways to make the coaster more fun and creative. The students worked well together also. (That's always a big plus). Why can't I think of things like this?”

· Cindy · Teacher

“The kids loved doing the experiments and the teacher really appreciated the video. Since I only have 50 mins to teach the lesson, next time (tomorrow, actually), I will have the marble runs already set up to go. It took too much time for the kids to tape the parts together and get their runs ready (due to extreme excitement!). So, now I know and will be more prepared. You folks are FANTASTIC! I'm telling all my teachers about your site. (I'm teaching science to four 3rd grade classes, three 4th grade classes, and three 5th grades classes at my school.)”

· Deborah · Teacher

“The best part is when students were initially puzzled after Experiment 1. Most really believed that the marbles would be able to stay out of the swamp by moving the target car further from the swamp. Their surprise was fun to watch. I have a suggestion that is somewhat picky. I teach my students that scientist use the metric system so all scientists around the world can use the same system and language to communicate clearly. This mystery uses inches as the length measurement. Might it be possible to use centimeters instead? Is there a reason inches is used? Thanks for the fun lesson.”

· Kristin · Teacher

“When students were allowed to create their own coaster, the level of excitement and sound went up. What a delight! They built a coaster from the top of the bookcase, through tunnels and around the corner of the room. You could hear a pin drop when the marble dropped. Bam! right into the cup and an uproarious cheer! One group made a game to catch the marble with a cup. Great dialogues, using new vocabulary.”

· Debra · Teacher

“We really enjoyed learning about rollercoasters and how they work as we just got back from a trip to a couple amusement parks. Also tied in really well with our unit. I have been using these as our final fun hands on activity and tie up to units. We are really enjoying them. The kids loved building their own model with cars and tracks. ”

· Cassandra · Homeschooler

“The activities were great and my students grasped the concepts of energy, height, momentum, etc. LOVE MYSTERY SCIENCE!!!!”

· Mercedes · Teacher

“So much fun. They students even tried to make the marbles do loops when they were done with the lab.”

· Anne · Teacher

“This lesson was powerful. Students enjoyed the experiment and learned a lot about energy, force, collision as well as energy transfer. They loved the idea of creating a 'bumper coaster.'”

· Somer · Teacher

“Every time I teach this unit, I'm excited by the "scientists" that appear in my classroom. They are asking great questions, problem-solving, drawing conclusions. Today I made a change to the activity: I didn't tell them how tall to make their first hill. As they built their models, some students could not find one place to set their second marble to make them not going into the Alligator Swamp. I simply asked, "What other variable could you consider?" And it sent them racing back to their models to explore what they could change. Loved it!”

· Jessica · Teacher

“Everything! The students are so engaged during the lessons! I love everything about Mystery Science. ”

· Vanessa · Teacher

“The best part of the lesson was that there was 3 different experiments so no one got bored. All students were attentive.”

· Raelyn · Teacher

“greatest lessons ever ”

· Michelle · Homeschooler

“The video of the roller coaster with the questions”

· Julie · Teacher

“I rode on a roller coaster!”

· Matthew · Other

“Great hook with the rollercoaster video, as well as the concept. Kids interested from the moment I hit play.”

· Richard · Teacher

“The kids wanted to make changes to the track..it really made them think!”

· Stacey · Teacher

“The experiment sheets that gave visuals and provided space for notes. We added trials so each one was tested 3 times for scientific improvement.”

· Lori · Teacher

“The best part for the students was the trials of the marbles and adjusting the target marbles as they went along. My students really showed perseverance with this activity! ”

· Shonda · Teacher

“The students loved discussing the mystery questions and conducting their own experiments! This is the most engaged that they have been all year!”

· Ali · Teacher

“Kids loved it. All the lesson are very relatable and interesting to the kids! Great job as always with the lesson ”

· Ashley · Teacher

“Oh my gosh! They were sooo into it! They enjoyed making the comparisons in each experiment. They seemed to really enjoy getting unexpected results.”

· Amy · Teacher

“Once my class created the bumper coaster, I was really impressed with how intuitively the students played around with height and marble placement... the exact aspects the worksheet guided them through, but most didn't even need those directions to come to the same conclusions. The students truly had a great time learning with this activity!”

· Laura · Teacher

“In the words of one of my students . . . "This is the best science class EVER . . . and EVER WILL BE!" Fantastic way to illustrate stored energy and conversion! After we did the assigned experiments, I let them "play" with the tracks. They combined their tracks with other teams. I had tracks coming off the walls, cabinets, and windows--doing loopity-loops (which worked, by the way) and other dips and curves. One track stretched the length of my room! I think the greatest reward yesterday was seeing the huge smile on the face of the boy who struggles with reading. School is often burdensome and embarrassing for him. But science class is a time for him to shine. During science class, HE LOVES SCHOOL! And that is reward for a teacher! Thank you for making the kids (and parents--because I texted them some pictures) very happy! ”

· Angela · Teacher

“The kids did not want to stop at experiment #1...they insisted that we continue our science lesson through the end of the day! It was a blast!”

· Roxanne · Teacher

“There was great discussion and oohs and aahs as students discovered the magic of energy. They had great fun discussing Annie's questions too. One group went and redesigned the roller coaster to make it more fun! Thank you for a great experiment, great videos and hand outs. As a teacher this can't be beat! ”

· Barbara · Teacher

“hands on activities that allow the students to see the transfer of energy and discuss potential vs. kinetic energy.”

· Erin · Teacher

“The lab! Hands on working with the marbles and discovering how energy transfers was awesome.”

· Chris · Teacher

“Such a great exploration. My students loved building their own coasters and testing the various scenarios. The videos were such a great visual and really helped the students understand the concepts better. ”

· Jeanette · Teacher

“We are doing the activity in 2 days, I just wanted to get them excited about it! For a class of over-(hyper) active scholars, I have never seen them more attentive!! ”

· Meghann · Teacher

“Fabulous introduction to potential and kinetic energy. Exploration especially enjoyed by class who went on to design their own roller coaster courses.”

· · Homeschooler

“In Experiment #2 the light came on! The children made the connection between height and speed.”

· Cathy · Teacher

“Loved the experiment and your explanations and examples are so complete and kid friendly. My students are engaged like never before!!!”

· Jody · Teacher

“Teach my kids to think. The lesson was great.”

· Debbie · Teacher

“Fantastic so well laid out and correlated. ”

· Tammy · Teacher

“Watching my students continue exploring once the 3 experiments were completed!!!”

· Mark · Teacher

“The videos were amazing- the kids really liked the "feel" of a roller coaster and it was particularly good for students who have never been on a roller coaster. I didn't print the hand outs choosing instead to project them and have the students set up different tracks together and make predictions on their journals before launching. It went really well. ”

· Megan · Teacher

“The kids took it to another level by making loop de loops in their tracks. Awesome!”

· Kelly · Teacher

“It was such a great lesson! The children loved it! They had a ball creating their bumper coasters! Science is so much more exciting when they are able to do hands-on activities and make connections to prior knowledge! Thanks Mystery Science!”

· · Teacher

“the interest level....after watching the video clips my students would have done anything!! I loved the conversations that occurred during the experiments. ”

· Beverly · Teacher

What makes roller coasters go so fast?

Image & Video Credits

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What makes roller coasters go so fast?

Image & Video Credits

Featured Reviews

Activity Prep

Step 1: Decide how many bumper coasters your class will make and use.

Step 2: Get supplies and print worksheets.

Step 3: Before class, cut each 3-foot-length of foam pipe insulation lengthwise.

15 mins

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