High Maintenance Mom

On Friday our math and science club went to The Tech Museum for a lab on the Physics of Roller Coasters. The kids worked in teams to build a ramp that would launch a marble 50 cm into a cup. They used plastic tinker toys and half of a foam insulator for wires. The second challenge was to make a loop, have the marble complete the loop, and end in the cup. Each team created a slightly different roller coaster and it was fun to see what everyone did. B's team stabilized the foam ramp with a y-shaped brace while N's team taped the cup to the bottom of a long drop so the marble would go right in. All teams learned how the height of the drop before the loop needed to be twice as tall as the loop. The next day I bought foam insulator tubing at a hardware store (OSH) and my kids used our Tinker Toys to make their own roller coasters here. The labs were designed for 2nd-8th grade but my 4 year-old was able to enjoy it and recreate a roller coaster at home. Our 6 year old used several of the other teams' ideas to make his coaster at home. The Tech Museum posts all of their labs on their web site.