NOTE: If you want to make Bumper Coasters with foam tubing, you can view the previous version of this lesson.

We suggest students work in the same groups of four from Lesson 2. Homeschool students can work on their own, but will need to build all roller coaster tracks and hills.

Make Sure You Have Enough Space

Each roller coaster with hills extends about 1.2 meters (a little over 4 feet) from the box, stack of books, wall, or other surface that it’s attached to. Each group of four students will need this amount of space to work through the activity. If you don’t have enough floor space, a few student desks pushed together with a stack of books on top should work.

Estimate Your Time Needs

The entire lesson with the activity will take about an hour. There is a natural stopping point after students finish building their roller coaster tracks and before they start experimenting. If you are pressed for time or have a short class period, we recommend splitting this lesson into two sessions.

Prepare Materials

Cut enough stickers so that you have two for each group of four students that will build a roller coaster. The stickers need to be no wider than 2 centimeters so that they can fit and adhere to the roller coaster track.

Teacher Tip

Experimenting with marbles is fun, but it can also be distracting! We recommend waiting to distribute the marbles and worksheets until after students have finished building their tracks and hills.