This Mystery is out of date! Please proceed to Energizing Everything to see the updated version.
Why is the first hill of a roller coaster always the highest?

Why is the first hill of a roller coaster always the highest?

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DISCUSS:

The first hill of a roller coaster is always the highest. Why can't the second or third hill be higher than the first?

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DISCUSS:

Why does the marble make it over the lower hill, but not the higher one?

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Time check!

The following Bumper Coaster activity can take up to an hour.

If your time is limited, you might want to save the activity for your next science lesson.

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If you need a natural stopping point!

Teachers: If you are short on time, this is a good stopping point. We recommend leaving your students' tracks set up so they can get right to their final experiments at the start of the next session.

If you’re continuing right now, advance to the next slide.

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# Anchor Connection

Discuss (1 of 2):

Look at the "Wonder" column of your class See-Think-Wonder chart. Have any questions been answered by this Mystery?

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Discuss (2 of 2):

In the Ok Go Rube Goldberg machine, many objects collide. How does the speed of the first object affect the speed of the second object (the object that is hit)?

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# Extensions
Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the Exploration and Activity you just completed.
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# Activity: Swinging Science

Explore energy using a playground swing. Swinging with Style is a playground activity that gives kids a chance to burn off energy while learning science. Your students will gather data in the playground, then graph and analyze their results.

Science of Swinging is a more extended exploration of pendulums. It provides detailed background information for the teacher.

Both resources were created by Teach Engineering, a digital library of classroom science resources compiled by university educators with National Science Foundation support.

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# Distance Learning Challenge: Experiment With Hills

In the last lesson, we provided instructions for making a basic Bumper Coaster, using paper, scissors, and tape. That coaster starts with a hill, but the rest of the track is level.

Here’s a challenge: can you add more hills to that bumper coaster track? You can use paper, scissors, and tape. To make your hills, you can stack boxes or books.

Your track starts with a tall hill. Can you add a medium hill and a small hill?

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Lesson narration:

Activity Prep

Print Prep

THIS LESSON WAS REVISED ON JULY 1, 2019. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this lesson, students will explore how high the hills of a roller coaster can be. In the activity, Bumper Coasters (Part II), students add hills to the Bumper Coaster they built in Lesson 2 and experiment to build a deeper understanding of hills and energy.

Preview activity

Exploration

17 mins

Wrap-Up

3 mins

Extend this lesson

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