Marble Roller Coaster Lab (Styrofoam)
Roller Coaster Name:
Your Name:
Team members:
Purpose: Your goal is to design and build the wildest roller coaster ride that will deliver a
marble safely to the end. You must at least demonstrate three successful consecutive runs.
Criteria: Your roller coaster should have at least

2 hills (min height: 10 cm), 2 turns and 1 vertical loop (min diameter: 15 cm) (extra
credit for extra loops, hills or turns). Do not combine hills and turns. Hills must
distinctly go up and come down. No Tunnels!!
Materials:
 6 ft x 2 length of insulation tubing (Home Depot item # OEP11838, 1-1/8” x 3/8”
OR OES7838, 7/8” x 3/8”. Available in the plumbing aisle)
 scissors
 tooth picks
 glue & tape
 support material like wood sticks or paper cups
 standard size poster board
 marble
Procedure: You and your team will design your roller coaster and must submit your design first
for approval before starting your construction. The poster board will serve as a base and the foam
tubing will serve as the track. These can be cut to fit your design. Your coaster needs to be
designed and constructed with the criteria mentioned above. You will need to make Potential
energy and Kinetic energy estimates. For this you need to measure the height of the roller coaster
from where the marble starts to the base where the marble ends its trip. You also need to estimate
the velocity of the marble as it rolls off at the end. The entire group must make the demonstration
in front of the class and also speak on their project for 5 minutes. You will talk about the history
and physics of roller coasters, and your team’s experience in building it. Your roller coaster must
have a theme and the class will vote for the most decorated roller coaster, which will get a bonus
of 5 points.
Rubric:
No loop, No Hill, No turn: No grade
2 Hills
2 Turns
1 loop
2 Hills
1 Turn
1 loop
1 Hill
2 turns
1 loop
1 hill
1 turn
1 loop
0 hill
1 turn
1 loop
1 hill
0 turn
1 loop
----0 loop
Design Plan/Workmanship
Presentation
Calculations / Conclusions
Theme & Decoration
Removing Roller Coaster from class
- 40 pts
- 35 pts
- 35 pts
- 30 pts
- 25 pts
- 20 pts
No points
15 pts
10 pts
20 + 5 = 25 pts
5 pts
5 pts
Grading:
Summative: Device + Design Plan+ Theme = 40 + 15 + 5 = 60 points
Formative: presentation + w/s + teamwork = 10 + 25 + 5 = 40 points
Calculations:
Mass of marble (kg) = m
Track Height (m) = h
=
=
Horizontal Distance traveled (m) = dx
Height of the table (m) = dy
2dy
g
(m/sec) v = dx / t =
Time t (sec) =
Velocity
Potential Energy (Joule) = m.g.h
Kinetic Energy (Joule) = ½
=
m.v2 =
Energy Lost (P.E–K.E) =
%Efficiency = (K.E/P.E) x 100
Conclusion:
1. When was the first roller coaster made?
2. Which is the world’s highest coaster?
3. What do you think happened to the energy lost during the coaster ride
4. Identify all the forces acting on a passenger while going through a loop.
5. What scientific laws & facts are being demonstrated during the marble ride?
Roller Coaster Project Rubric
Looking For…
Presentation
Way!
Well presented,
covers the history,
physics and team
experience. A
powerpoint or poster
also shown.
Roller Coaster
Has all the
appropriate number
of hills, loops and/or
turns. 3 successful
trials in a row
Design Plan
Design shows
creativity and
application of
physics principles
Workmanship &
Theme
Neat finish, painted
and well decorated.
Has a well defined
theme.
Calculations
All parameters noted
accurately.
Calculations done
correctly.
Part Way
Reading from
paper, some parts
missing, lacking
seriousness while
presenting
Missing some of
the requisite
features. 2
successful trials in
a row
Design not
imaginative, and
shows application
of some physics
principles
Wobbly, lacking
paint or finish.
Theme is not
apparent or silly or
unappealing
Some calculations
done wrong.
No Way
Scoring
Missing major
parts of
presentation,
laughing, or
making a joke
of the
presentation
Physics,
History,
Experience
Missing a loop.
Trials not
successful
most of the
time
Some random
twists and
turns with no
understanding
of physics
Features
No theme,
Structure
unstable
Parameters not
noted correctly.
Large errors in
calculations
/7
Formal presentation
Confident & Coherent
/3
/40
Design
/10
Workmanship
/5
Theme
/5
Calculations
/20
Conclusions
Conclusions
All questions
answered fully and
correctly
Some questions
answered correctly
or partial answers
Answers wrong
or show lack of
understanding
/5
/5
Remove Roller
Coaster after
wards