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THE LONGEST RIDEThe 2016 1st Place Trophy goes to ... Green Valley Elementary School's The Hungry Wolves ! Thanks for showcasing your STEM excellence!
Students will incorporate what they know about roller coaster physics, planning, decision making, problem solving, budgeting, managing time, communicating, and collaborating to design and construct (from mystery materials) a roller coaster with the goal of creating the longest ride. *NOTE Longest ride time NOT length.
While this is an on-the-spot challenge, there are a number of ways teams can prepare so they can be successful on E³challenge day, December 9, 2016. At the bottom of this page, there are a number of resources to help your team develop skills, knowledge, and understanding of the concepts needed for this challenge. The resources provided are simply a springboard; feel free to create your own activities or research other options. Look below for resources to help you prepare your teams. |
Alabama Course of Study Science Standards Alignment
Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
3:1 Plan and carry out an experiment to determine the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object using one variable at a time, including number, size, direction, speed, position, friction, or air resistance (e.g., balanced forces pushing from both sides on an object, such as a box, producing no motion; unbalanced force on one side of an object, such as a ball, producing motion), and communicate these findings graphically.
3:2 Investigate, measure, and communicate in a graphical format how an observed pattern of motion (e.g., a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, two children teetering on a see-saw, a model vehicle rolling down a ramp of varying heights, a pendulum swinging) can be used to predict the future motion of an object.
5:7 Design and conduct a test to modify the speed of a falling object due to gravity (e.g., constructing a parachute to keep an attached object from breaking).*
Energy
4:1 Use evidence to explain the relationship of the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
8:9 Use Newton’s second law to demonstrate and explain how changes in an object’s motion depend on the sum of the external forces on the object and the mass of the object (e.g., billiard balls moving when hit with a cue stick).
8:14 Use models to construct an explanation of how a system of objects may contain varying types and amounts of potential energy (e.g., observing the movement of a roller coaster cart at various inclines, changing the tension in a rubber band, varying the number of batteries connected in a series, observing a balloon with static electrical charge being brought closer to a classmate’s hair).
Physics
Construct models that illustrate how energy is related to work performed on or by an object and explain how different forms of energy are transformed from one form to another
(e.g., distinguishing between kinetic, potential, and other forms of energy such as thermal and sound; applying both the work-energy theorem and the law of conservation of energy to systems such as roller coasters, falling objects, and spring-mass systems; discussing the effect of frictional forces on energy conservation and how it affects the motion of an object).
Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
3:1 Plan and carry out an experiment to determine the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object using one variable at a time, including number, size, direction, speed, position, friction, or air resistance (e.g., balanced forces pushing from both sides on an object, such as a box, producing no motion; unbalanced force on one side of an object, such as a ball, producing motion), and communicate these findings graphically.
3:2 Investigate, measure, and communicate in a graphical format how an observed pattern of motion (e.g., a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, two children teetering on a see-saw, a model vehicle rolling down a ramp of varying heights, a pendulum swinging) can be used to predict the future motion of an object.
5:7 Design and conduct a test to modify the speed of a falling object due to gravity (e.g., constructing a parachute to keep an attached object from breaking).*
Energy
4:1 Use evidence to explain the relationship of the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
8:9 Use Newton’s second law to demonstrate and explain how changes in an object’s motion depend on the sum of the external forces on the object and the mass of the object (e.g., billiard balls moving when hit with a cue stick).
8:14 Use models to construct an explanation of how a system of objects may contain varying types and amounts of potential energy (e.g., observing the movement of a roller coaster cart at various inclines, changing the tension in a rubber band, varying the number of batteries connected in a series, observing a balloon with static electrical charge being brought closer to a classmate’s hair).
Physics
Construct models that illustrate how energy is related to work performed on or by an object and explain how different forms of energy are transformed from one form to another
(e.g., distinguishing between kinetic, potential, and other forms of energy such as thermal and sound; applying both the work-energy theorem and the law of conservation of energy to systems such as roller coasters, falling objects, and spring-mass systems; discussing the effect of frictional forces on energy conservation and how it affects the motion of an object).
HELPFUL RESOURCES TO HELP YOUR TEAM PREPARE:
SCIENCE CONCEPTS/ SKILLS
MATH CONCEPTS / SKILLS
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LESSONS/ACTIVITIES/
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| roller_coaster_science_activity.pdf |
VIDEOS
Design Squad: Roller Coasters
Science Channel: Roller Coaster Videos
DragonflyTV Episodes: Matter and Motion Roller Coaster Design PBS KIDS GO!
Steel Dragon 2000: POV World's Longest Roller Coaster Nagashima Spaland Japan
Science Channel: Roller Coaster Videos
DragonflyTV Episodes: Matter and Motion Roller Coaster Design PBS KIDS GO!
Steel Dragon 2000: POV World's Longest Roller Coaster Nagashima Spaland Japan
