What do dinosaurs, flames, space, Minecraft, and SpongeBob have in common? They are among the themes depicted in this year’s Great Paper Roller Coaster Challenge!
In what has become a tradition for D-E eighth graders, the Paper Roller Coaster showcase recently took place in the Middle School. The project, facilitated by 8th Grade Science Teacher Hyo Kim and 8th Grade Math & Science Teacher Julia Taazelar, challenges students, divided into small groups, to design a roller coaster marble run.
Materials they could use were limited to rulers, scissors, paper, cardboard, tape, and coloring supplies. A few students also used Adobe Firefly, a D-E vetted and approved AI tool used in Art & Design classes, to create their project logo.
“With this project, they’re able to “apply the skills they’ve learned theoretically into something that is practical and hands-on”
Parents and some Lower School students had a chance to view the variety of designs as well as test the functionality of each roller coaster, marble in hand. Ms. Taazelar describes this as a capstone project for Grade 8 that puts to use what they’ve learned about the laws of motion and energy transformation. With this project, they’re able to “apply the skills they’ve learned theoretically into something that is practical and hands-on,” she says.
Ms. Kim adds that the project, in its fourth year running, is a way “to wrap up the curriculum on physics… that also teaches students about collaboration, as each person has a specific job.”
The aforementioned SpongeBob roller coaster was created by a team dressed in tropical attire apropos for Bikini Bottom, including Iris Fung ’29, Bennett Sachs ’29, and Meissa Thiam ’29. “We all watched the show when we were kids,” says Meissa of the reason for the theme.
Meanwhile, another group’s jungle theme morphed into a prehistoric design, complete with a glaring T-Rex. Jordan Glazer ’29, whose partners included Livya Patel ’29, explains this design was the team’s interpretation of kinetic and potential energy.
As students described to their gathered audiences how the marble could represent both stored energy and energy in motion, it was clear that the project met its aim of being both imaginative and educational. It’s another great example of innovation in action at D-E!
