There are Ups and Downs to PBLs--and we can calculate the force, momentum, acceleration, and kinetic energy for all of them!

Students are studying Newton's Laws of Motion using roller coasters.  They had to construct a roller coaster out of paper and test it.  There are many formulas that go along with the scientific laws... so they learned to solve one and two step equations while they were at it:  force = mass times acceleration, distance = rate divided by time, kinetic energy = 1/2 mass times velocity squared... 

And more to come..!