Announcements and upcoming events part 2.

and here is the Gifted Grasp Project:
3RD NINE WEEKS G.R.A.S.P. [GIFTED]

| GOAL |
You must convince the Board of Directors of the new city amusement park to buy your roller coaster design.

| ROLE |
You are part of a roller coaster design team.

| AUDIENCE |
The Board of Directors at “Islands of Fun" amusement park

| SITUATION |
The “Islands of Fun” amusement park wants to add a new roller coaster ride. Your job is to work together as a team to design a roller coaster and present your coaster design to the Board of Directors at “Islands of Fun".

| PRODUCTS |
Use provided materials (6 feet of 7/8-inch (inner diameter) foam pipe insulation [cut in half lengthwise], standard-size marble, masking tape[not duct tape], stop watch, flexible metric tape measure, balance) to construct a roller coaster with at least two “hills.” Conduct trials to be sure that the marble performs as planned. Once the roller coaster is performing acceptably, calculate the speed of the marble from start to finish for three trials. Find the average speed of the marble for the three trials. Calculate the work done by the marble in Newton meters.
Create a diagram of the roller coaster with labels and short explanations to show which parts demonstrate the following terms: speed or velocity, acceleration, friction, gravity, momentum, potential energy, kinetic energy, Newton's first law of motion. The diagram should include a data table for time and distance and the calculations for speed and work.
The presentation by the team should include a demonstration of the working roller coaster. The presentation must: give the name of the roller coaster; justify the design used in each part of the coaster; identify and explain the chosen terms; and provide the average speed of and work done by the marble.

| GRADING STANDARDS |
SC.6.13.2, SC.6.13.3
Roller coaster must use only approved materials and have three consecutive successful trials in which the marble stays on the track.
Diagram includes terms provided, correctly placed, with a short explanation for each, a data table with time and distance from three trials, the calculation of average speed, and the calculation of work done by the marble.
Presentation includes a demonstration of the working roller coaster, the name of the roller coaster, a justification of the design used in each part of the coaster, identification and explanation of the chosen terms, the average speed of the marble for the three trials, and the work done by the marble.

Parents, the following donations are accepted and greatly appreciated: the above mentioned pipe insulation. Working stop watches. Note: Even though this is a gifted activity, I plan to allow all 6-B students to do this, since both advanced and gifted students cover energy transformation in their curricula. Thus, both advanced and gifted students can donate the foam insulation. Any other roller-coaster supporting materials are also appreciated as donations. See the example in my class (which many of you have played with) for ideas of how you want to build yours.