Paper Roller Coaster Classroom Kit

ONLINE INSTRUCTIONS:  Find your kit instructions on Science Buddies.

Ready to build: hills, turns, and a full loop, for every team.

Steep hills, big dips, crazy turns, a loop or two? This set includes five individual Paper Roller Coaster Kits, so each builder or team gets their own full set of materials to design, build, and test.  With sturdy cardstock templates for hills, curves, straightaways, struts, and optional funnels, all it takes is some tape, a pair of scissors, and imagination to build an exciting model roller coaster.  Plan your design, put it together, and put it to the test.

Key Questions Students Explore:

• How tall does a hill need to be for a marble to have enough gravitational potential energy to make it around a loop?
• Why can't a later hill be taller than the one before it? What does that say about the conservation of energy?
• How does friction affect how far a marble travels before it loses momentum?

Designing a coaster full of twists and turns is the easy part.  Stabilizing it so it doesn't collapse is where you start thinking like a civil engineer.  This kit is a quick build, so it's an easy one-sitting project blending design, physics, and engineering. This kit is a convenient way to outfit a classroom, co-op, or science club with a kit for everyone. Scissors not provided--one pair per student recommended. 

• Pre-Printed roller coaster template sheets
• Tape
• Cardboard Sheets
• Marbles