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Idea Bank: Roller Coaster Inquiry

The Science Teacher—September 2004

This project, which centers on roller coaster design, engages students in learning about physics and activates their prior knowledge in an open-inquiry environment. The activity also gets students involved with inquiry and group work during the first few weeks of class. Students are presented with an authentic problem before receiving content instruction; they learn about the content through group interaction and by coming up with a solution to the problem.
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