This semester has been all about roller coasters! In our last update post we told about some of the coaster research we'd done and how we'd explored some of the science behind coasters. Now, it was time to put all that knowledge into action and build our own mini-coasters.
Student groups were given miscellaneous supplies, such as wooden dowels, cardboard, paper cups, construction paper and tape and asked to create a roller coaster for a golf ball. There were different levels of challenges, including a basic drop, a hill, a double hill, and a loop.
This was true problem-solving and innovation! Were there lots of dead ends? Absolutely! What would be the point if it were all laid out for them? The successes felt so much better because the students had truly earned them.
awesome job on my roller coaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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