Science of Everyday Life Family Activities. The Ups and Downs of Fun

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1 Science of Everyday Life Family Activities The Ups and Downs of Fun Overview Most cars need a motor to move, especially uphill. How does a roller coaster car climb huge hills and complete loops with no motor to give it energy? Discover the energy transformations that occur during a roller coaster ride. Let your imagination run and test your own roller coaster designs. Materials 5/16 inch ball bearing (or small marble) one 10 foot piece of clear tubing (5/8 inch inner diameter) one 4 foot piece of clear tubing (5/8 inch inner diameter) 5 Command Damage-Free Hanging Hooks Scotch Magic Tape a mug Thought Starters Ask these questions before you begin: What makes a ride fun? o A: going fast, changing direction, going high up in the air What is often at the beginning of a roller coaster? (Look at pictures of roller coasters online if your child is unsure.) o A: Traditional roller coasters begin with a steep climb followed by a big drop. What is energy? o A: the ability to do work, everything we do requires energy What are some different kinds of energy? o A: The two basic types of energy are potential (stored) energy and kinetic (moving) energy. These categories can be broken down further to include heat, sound, electrical, and chemical energy. Can energy change from one kind to another? o A: Yes! Energy changes from one kind to another all of the time. For example, energy from the sun turns into stored energy when a tomato plant grows. When you eat the tomato, that energy turns into chemical energy in your body. You turn that energy into kinetic energy when you walk, run, and play. A radio turns electrical energy into sound energy. When you talk into a phone, your sound energy turns into electrical energy.

2 Activity #1 Place 4 Command Damage Free Hooks on the wall at the following locations: H1 15 in 40 in 20 in floor 25 in Take the 4 foot piece of tubing. Place one end at H1 and the other end at. A small piece of Scotch Magic Tape can be used to secure the tube to the, if needed. Place a mug on the floor where you think the ball will land after it travels through the tubing. Place the ball in the tubing at H1 at let it roll! See if it lands in the cup. If it does not land in the cup, move the cup and try again. Move one end of the tubing from H1 to. Place the cup where you think the marble will land. Do you think the ball will go farther, the same distance, or not as far? Test your prediction. What happened? What conclusions can you draw about the starting height of the ball and how much energy it has at?

3 Activity #2 Place two more Command Damage Free Hooks at locations H4 and H5. H1 note: and H5 are at the same height H5 H4 10 in 30 in floor 15 in Run the 10ft piece of tubing from to to H5. Start the ball at and let it roll! Does the ball have enough energy to make it to H5? Run the tubing from to to H4. Do you think the ball will have enough energy to make it to H4? Test your prediction. Give your roller coaster a higher starting point. Run the tubing from H1 to to H5? Can the ball make it to the top of the hill? Can the ball make it around a loop? Create a loop in your roller coaster as shown below to find out.

4 H1 H5 H4 floor Arrange the tubing any way you like! See what works and what does not work to give the ball a thrilling ride! Discussion Points The key to a fun ride is acceleration. An object is accelerating whenever its velocity changes. There are three ways that velocity can change: speed up, slow down, or change direction. Acceleration feels fun because your body always moves in the opposite direction of acceleration. If a ride speeds up, your body feels pushed back. If a ride slows down, your body feels pushed forward. If a ride makes a turn, your body feels thrown outward from the turn. All of these pushes and pulls on your body equals an exciting ride! When a roller coaster zooms up a hill, you feel light at the top due to your body s inertia. Inertia means when your body is going up, it wants to keep going up. When the roller coaster car starts going downhill, your body still goes up for a moment until the seat belt pulls you down. When you are racing down a hill, your body wants to keep going downward. When the roller coaster starts going up again, your body keeps going down and your body feels pressed down on the seat. This makes you feel heavy.

5 Energy is the ability to do work. That means an object has energy if it has the ability to apply force and move other objects. The two basic types of energy are potential and kinetic. Potential energy is stored energy. That means the object isn t doing any work yet, but it can. In this activity, the ball sitting at the top of the first hill has potential energy. It isn t doing any work, but give it a little push and it can zoom! That brings us to the second type of energy: kinetic. An object has kinetic energy if it is moving. The faster an object moves, the more kinetic energy it has. Energy can change from one type to another. At the top of a hill the ball has potential energy. As it rolls down the hill, its potential energy becomes kinetic energy. At the bottom of a hill, its potential energy is gone, and it has all kinetic energy. That means it is going really fast! As the ball goes up the next hill, it gains potential energy and loses kinetic energy (slows down). In a traditional roller coaster, the first hill is the tallest. The second hill cannot be as tall as the first. Why? In theory, as a roller coaster goes up the second hill, all of its kinetic energy would turn back into potential energy and it could reach the height of the first hill again. But, in real life, there is friction between the wheels of the roller coaster car and the track. Friction is the force between two surfaces that rub against each other. Friction takes some of the kinetic energy and turns it into heat energy. That means the wheels and the track heat up a little bit. The roller coaster car does not have enough energy to get all the way back up to the original starting height. Some roller coasters do not start with a slow climb up a big hill. Engineers figured out how to use magnets to launch a roller coaster from rest to really fast in only a few seconds! Hold on to your hats! To Learn More Build a virtual roller coaster at