Marble Roller Coasters

I am together with thus blessed to hold upwards married to a instructor because my husband doesn't fifty-fifty bat an oculus when I enquire him to practice things similar purchase me simply about vi human foot long pieces of pipage insulation at Lowe's.  Note to self: choice a non-windy twenty-four hours to endeavour together with convey this into the building! 

Shaun too picked me upwards a distich of bags of marbles at Dollar Tree.  

Can y'all approximate what these are going to become? 

Here's the showtime hint.  They can't hold upwards used as-is.  They demand to hold upwards cutting inwards one-half to brand 2 long pieces.  

One side of the pipage insulation is already scored.  This is easily cutting amongst pair of scissors or a box knife.  I constitute that it was easier to purpose pair of scissors to cutting the residuum of the pipage insulation inwards half.  

Each slice of insulation is 6 feet long.  My hubby ended upwards paying $1.18 for each slice which volition brand 12 feet of tubing i time cutting inwards half.  These one-half pieces are perfect for making roller coasters for marbles.    

I used this marble roller coaster activeness to boot off our tidings of kinetic together with potential publish energy inwards physical science.  Each grouping received i vi human foot slice of tubing together with i marble.  Using alone these materials together with tape, each grouping had to practice a roller coaster that included i loop.  

Naturally, none of the designs worked perfectly the showtime time.  Students had to work solve together with refine their designs.  Once students had a one-loop roller coaster that was working successfully, that grouping earned a mo slice of tubing.  This tubing came amongst the challenge to brand a two-loop roller coaster.  When they had met this goal, they were given the challenge of making a coaster amongst 3 loops.  They expected to hold upwards given a 3rd slice of tubing amongst this challenge, but I made them practice the 3 loops amongst alone the 12 feet of tubing they already had.  

My students chop-chop figured out that the marble needed to start quite high higher upwards the loops.  They were discussing potential publish energy without fifty-fifty realizing it!  I too overheard students discussing how the loops needed to acquire progressively smaller.  Hello, kinetic energy!  

This actually was the perfect means to acquire what my students already knew/believed most energy.  I would similar to formalize this activeness to a greater extent than inwards the future.  I'm even together with thus waiting to acquire my scores dorsum to run into if I passed my chemical scientific discipline certification test.  

Here are simply about pictures of the roller coasters they created: 

The i work I've constitute amongst this activeness is that I don't know how to shop my tubing for hereafter roller coasters.  The best I've constitute together with thus far is this cardboard box that my hanger hampers (affiliate link) came inwards from Amazon.  The box is alone most 3 feet tall, though.

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