Energy, Machines, and Motion
Part Three: Motion
Lesson 20: The Roller Coaster
Students return to the topic of energy by discussing how a roller coaster car gets the energy it needs to move along a track. In Lesson 20 students will work together to build a roller coaster.
Focus Question: Why is teamwork a valued aspect of scientific investigations?
3. Lesson Set-up and Management
EALR 4:
Physical Science
Core Content: Interactions of Energy and Matter
6-8 PS3A Energy exists in many forms: heat, light, chemical, electrical, motion of objects, and sound. Energy can be transformed from one form to another and transferred from one place to another.
- Students work in teams to build a roller coaster.
- Teamwork in science makes a complex task easier.
3. Lesson Set-Up and Management
Materials:
- Students will work in groups to build a section of the roller
coaster. The sections will then be put together for use in Lesson 21.
Below are two suggestions for making this process proceed smoothly:
- Have groups create an inventory of the pieces they will need and collect those pieces. Once those pieces are collected you can then have students begun building.
- Prior to the class you could separate the needed pieces for each group placing them into a large Ziploc™ baggie; students could get their baggie containing the correct pieces and begin building.
- After you are finished with the roller coaster place the different sections of the track in different baggies for the next time you teach the unit.
- One track can be used for the entire class and each subsequent class, or you can build a different roller coaster for each class you teach
Student Management:
- Some sections of the track are constructed much quicker than other sections. Consider planning an activity for groups to complete after they have constructed their portion of the roller coaster.
- Discovery Kids Games and Interactive website allows students to create simulated roller coasters. Students could work in small groups to create a roller coaster with the highest fear factor. http://kids.discovery.com/games/rollercoasters/buildacoaster.html
- NA
Writing Support:
- NA
Reading Support:
- NA
Math Support:
- NA
Last updated 09/09/2009