A fully-loaded hands-on engineering activity, with lesson plan and ancillary materials provided. In this activity, students use what they know about Laws of Physics to try transporting a golf ball (or similar sized rollable object) from one side of the table to the other without touching it or pushing it across the table.

Lesson: Forces, Motion, and Momentum
Engineering Area: Applied Physics, Grades 6-8
Activity: Roller Coaster Movement

Tied to NGSS and CCSSM standards, students can jump in to Applied Physics and Engineering with this design challenge to practice their problem-solving skills! Click on the resource links to the right to download the full lesson plan and lesson presentations.

By registering for this Learning Experience, you'll get an exclusive link to share your students' work, photos of the projects, and an opportunity to connect your students with real engineers from Columbia Engineering to talk about research related to this activity and lesson. You will receive more details on how to get more involved through details provided through registration.

The Engineering Speaks program now accommodates remote sessions that allow K-12 students to hear directly from engineers from Columbia University, through virtual panels, workshops, and seminars.

A Columbia University engineer will visit you and your students in a virtual meeting room. Typically, engineers tell a “life story” and explain their personal path, including passions, education, current work, etc. Students have the opportunity for a live Q&A during and after the presentation. Groups can range from a single class to large groups.