Students build their own small-scale model roller coasters using pipe insulation and marbles, and then analyze them using physics principles learned in the associated lesson. They examine conversions between kinetic and potential energy and frictional effects to design roller coasters that are completely driven by gravity. A class competition using different marbles types to represent different passenger loads determines the most innovative and successful roller coasters.

This resource is a lesson and project to guide students through using a roller coaster simulation to explain how energy can be transformed from one form to another (energy transformation). The lesson, resources, project, and energy quiz can be accessed and modified through a Google Slides presentation (http://bit.ly/RollerCoasterEnergyTransformations)

Students learn what a pendulum is and how it works in the context of amusement park rides. While exploring the physics of pendulums, they are also introduced to Newton's first law of motion about continuous motion and inertia.