The Marble Tree

Grade Level:
3rd grade
4th grade
5th grade
6th grade
7th grade
8th grade
School Program Price:
Costs $11.00 per student
Description

Marbles have amused and educated children’s hands for thousands of years. These spheres of stone, clay and glass invite play and experiment. Leonardo, Galileo, Newton and Ada Augusta Ada, Countess of Lovelace, used marbles to explain how the world works.

A classic Marble Down (or Marble Tree) is a perfect way to learn the physics of a rolling object and the effects of gravity and inertia. Couple that with the ability to plan three dimensionally and test things for accuracy, and you have an exceptionally enjoyable experiment.

mobilerider.embedVideo(54,73958,"","640","360","universal",{extras:"skin:mr1,channel:17351,autoplay:0,vs:0,muteOn:0",service:1}); The Marble Tree project illustrates motion by building a spiral track for a marble to follow., Parts 
 
Attach the trunk to the base using the short anchor peg. 
 
 
Prepare the branches by inserting the thin rods into the small platforms. 
 
Attach the branches to the trunk in a descending spiral. 
 
Glue the large platforms onto the small ones. 
 
 
Now glue guardrails onto the platforms to help the marbles roll along the track. 
 
Try it out! You may need to add extra rails or adjust the branches to get a complete spiral to the bottom. You may like to add a small cup to catch the marbles at the end.