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How to Make a Roller Coaster Model With Inexpensive Materials

Model roller coasters range from working electronic units that are made to scale to smaller projects using household items. Those who don't have the money to invest in hobby roller coasters can still make a roller coaster using inexpensive materials. The same physics lessons regarding velocity and speed can still be learned from these cheaper coaster models, making for both a cheap and educational project for students or families to work on together.

Things You'll Need

Poster board
Masking tape
Scissors
Books
Marble

Instructions

- 1
  Cut a 3-inch thick strip off the poster board lengthwise and set it aside. Repeat this two more times for a total of three strips.
- 2
  Cut six 1-inch strips lengthwise from the poster board. These will form the side of the tracks to ensure your marble doesn't fall off the coaster once it is complete.
- 3
  Tape the 1-inch pieces to each side of the 3-inch pieces. Make sure there are no air bubbles or folds in the tape that will trip up your marble and slow it down.
- 4
  Stack several books on top of each other to the height you want your first hill. Bear in mind the first drop has to be the highest out of all the drops in order to gain enough speed and velocity for the marble to reach the end of the coaster.
- 5
  Tape one of the track pieces to the top book. The books will serve as the base to support the poster board.
- 6
  Stack up more books to form your second hill. These should be smaller than the first hill. Do the same with a third stack, making it shorter than the second.
- 7
  Tape one of the finished sections to the first that you already taped to the large stack of books. Tape the third finished track section to the second.
- 8
  Tape the finished track to each stack of books to provide support.
- 9
  Test out the track by placing the marble at the top of the first hill and letting it go. It should go up and over all all the hills. If it doesn't, add or remove books to each stack until you find the optimum combination so that the marble goes over each hill.

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