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Wall Marble Maze

In this provocation, students will build a marble maze ramp that has to jump the track

Objective:

  • Build a wall marble maze ramp that the marble has to jump from one part of the track/pathway to another several times

Problem-solving and strategic thinking:

  • Understanding the concept of gravity and momentum in making the marble jump

  • Identifying different materials that can be used to create the maze ramp

  • Problem-solving skills in designing a pathway that allows the marble to jump multiple times

Standards/Objectives addressed:

  • K.G.A.2: Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.

  • K.1.A: Print many upper- and lowercase letters.

  • .K-PS2-2: Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull.

  • SL.1.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

  • NGSS1-PS4-1: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

Background knowledge needed:

  • What is a maze?

Materials:

  • Toilet paper or toweling tubes, cardboard, wrapping paper tubes, foam, popsicle sticks, tape, marbles

Prompts – questions or statements to elicit engagement:

  • I notice the marble keeps falling off here. What could you do about that?

  • How are you going to use…?

  • What happened when you did…?

Vocabulary:

  • Angle, chute, design, elevation, force, friction, incline, ramp, steep, structure, tube, tunnel, swerve, slide, jump, roll, tumble, bounce, launch, crash, faster/fastest, heavier/heaviest, farther/farthest

Reflection prompts:

  • What worked well? 

  • What part of your design made your marble go the fastest?

  • How did you test your design?

  • What part of your design do you like best or would you change? Why?

  • When you made your design, how did you decide where things should go?

Extension: 

  • Could the maze start in two different spots?

  • Do different size marbles travel differently? What do you notice?

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