Tuesday, November 5, five UAH students delivered a stunning marble rollercoaster to Harvest Elementary. Why? For the school’s STEM program, Makerspace.

Makerspace is a weekly program where the students get to enjoy hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) projects. There are stations they can visit like a place to program robot bees, a pulley system, a marble rollercoaster, and more! But recently the marble rollercoaster has been having some problems. So a group of UAH students decided to take on the challenge and rebuild the rollercoaster.

The students began the design process in June. Sponsored by Ms. Fraley at Women in Defense, they 3D-printed over 150 pieces for the coaster. They made two identical racetracks sporting the school’s colors, yellow and blue, and a feature track of all colors of the rainbow so that three elementary students can use it at a time. Also, to solve the problem of children leaning on the tracks, they made a glass enclosure to hold the rollercoaster.

When they were finally finished, on November 5, the five students brought the rollercoaster to Harvest Elementary. The 4^th grade ACE class came to the library, where Makerspace takes place, to see the unveiling. They were presented with a survey on their interest in becoming an engineer, as well as a worksheet on the meaning of STEM, CAD, and velocity. The team showed a short presentation, and then let the children test out the rollercoaster with all types of marbles that weren’t available with the old rollercoaster, like wooden, rubber, glass, and steel. The marble rollercoaster is an amazing contraption that will delight students at Harvest Elementary for years to come.