The purpose of this lab was to introduce students to the concept of energy
conservation. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, just changed from one
form to another. The classes' roller coaster was used as evidence of
this. 9 points were marked along the coaster. Students calculated
the potential energy the marble started with and then ran it through the
coaster several times, making observations of the speed at each point.
Based on the speed, students could infer whether the marble was gaining or
losing potential or kinetic energy. Students then made a graph in their
lab notebooks of the potential and kinetic energy the marble had during it's
entire trip down the track.