Rollercoaster creation thrills Inman students

The Inman Eagles like to spread their wings and learn in unique ways, and all 4th graders got to do just that for a special STEAM activity. 

The classes of Samantha Jones and Angie McMillan took the topic of “Force and Motion” and turned it on its head, building rollercoaster tracks as a hands-on way to demonstrate their mastery. 

All 4th grade students took part in the activity that built off of a discussion of force, motion, friction, gravity, speed, and all the fun factors that make things go. For their final project, they had to use their newfound knowledge to construct their very own rollercoaster using any combination of paper plates, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, tape, water bottles, construction paper, card stock, regular paper, sentence strips, and scissors. 

“During their construction they were allowed to test their track and make improvements as needed until the time limit was up,” said teacher Samantha Jones. “The goal was to construct a rollercoaster that their marble could start and finish all the way through.”

To add a bit more fun to the festivities, quirks like loops, curves, funnels, and jumps made the coasters even more challenging. 

“The students LOVED it, to say the least,” said Jones. “We have them roughly 90 minutes, and some groups still needed even more time.”