Marbles in the STEM Lab- Unique Roller Coasters
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Are you ready to build a quick marble run with this low-prep STEM challenge! Let’s turn simple materials into an exciting marble run.
The very first time I pulled out foam tubes and marbles and mentioned roller coasters, I knew my students were hooked on STEM forever. That challenge is their very favorite and it’s one they ask to repeat all the time. It’s a fun one, but in my mind, I always wanted to create a different kind of roller coaster. Could we try something with tubes? So, one day I gathered together a bin of cardboard tubes and rolls of masking tape, and we got to work!
You Need 3 Things for the Marble Runs
- LOTS of cardboard tubes
- Large cardboard pieces or foam board
- Masking tape and lots of it
That’s all. Seriously. Okay, ask parents to send in the cardboard tubes from toilet tissue rolls and paper towel rolls. If you really want to get a ton of these, just mention that this is material they can send in and IT’S FREE! That’s what I did and I have enough tubes to last until the end of time.
TIPS: You really need good sticky masking tape, and you’ll use a lot of it, so get some at Walmart. It’s in the paint department, and they have inexpensive alternatives. For the cardboard pieces, I used packing boxes that I cut apart with a razor blade knife. You can probably ask your cafeteria to save their boxes for you. If you decide to use foam board, get it at the Dollar Tree. The cardboard or foam board is for the base of the marble run.
How to Get Started with Marble Runs
Show your students some images of marble runs to give them an idea of what to do. I showed images of upright runs that resemble roller coasters and also images that are taped to a wall or the front of a table. (Just search on You Tube and you will find plenty of videos.)
Before handing out the materials I shared some cardboard techniques I knew they would need.
Give them the materials and sit back and watch what happens!
TIP: Definitely plan on teaching students how to create a flange. I will link you to a post at the bottom of this that shows many ways to attach cardboard.
You can tell from this photo that this team needed a better way to attach those support columns to their base.
How to Join Tubes Together
Students found some clever ways to do this. Mostly they cut a slit into one tube and slipped the second tube into it. We had to cut a lot of tubes in half to make the paths.
We also learned to do a layering technique to make the turns in the marble path. Take a look at this photo!
This team cut a tube into strips and layered the strips. Since a tube is already curved this worked well!
More Ways to Use the Tubes
Students used tubes cut in half lengthwise for most of their paths. We learned to use whole tubes on corners to prevent the marble from jumping off the path.
Many students wanted to make the entire marble run with whole tubes. This turned out not to be very fun, however, since you cannot see the marble moving. Also, if the marble gets stuck inside it is hard to find!
I added a rule that some of the tubes must be open-topped.
I did eventually create a building rule that did not allow using a lot of whole tubes and tubes could not be used as decorative parts. They must function!
The Best part of Marble Runs!
The very best part of this challenge is listening to the teams cheer when something works! They are so thrilled when that hard work pays off.
The sharing time for these projects is essential! Every team wants to show off their working marble run.
TIP: The base that the run is built on needs to be a sturdy piece of cardboard so that you can move these projects.
This Marble Run challenge was completely, entirely, no doubt about it, 100% engaging! The enthusiasm for this project was amazing and the end results were priceless!
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The post Marbles in the STEM Lab- Unique Roller Coasters first appeared on Teachers are Terrific.
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