Bin 8: Tumble Trax
Encourage critical thinking and STEM skills with Tumble Trax! Inspire kids to create their own unique marble runs with long, short, and curved magnetic pieces. Drop a marble to see each design come to life. Kids can rearrange the pieces countless ways to make the marble change speed and directions. Engineering and problem solving have never been this much fun! Recommended for children age 5+.
Early Learning Standards Met:
North Dakota - Scientific Reasoning, Social, and Emotional Development.
Minnesota - Cognitive Development: Mathematics, Science and Social Systems, Social and Emotional Development, and Approaches to Learning.
Do Together
Ideas for how to use this bin:
- Color sorting race: Use marble of different colors and sort them into separate runs
- Time challenges: Introduce a timer to see how quickly children can assemble a marble run or get a marble from start to finish
- Height challenge: Build the tallest marble run while still successfully carrying a marble from top to bottom
- Longest path: Build the longest possible path for the marble, twisting and turning to extend the run while maintaining momentum
- Work together to build a ramp or build features individually
Watch or Play Together
Use this media connection to spark interest, model skills and approaches, or explore a concept:
- Marble Run | PINKALICIOUS & PETERRIFIC (Video 1:26)
- Making Observations of Balls and Ramps (Video 2:39)
- Curious George: Ramp-n-Roll (Video 0:51)
Talk and Wonder Together
Maximize learning using these prompts during or after the activities:
- What happens to the marble at the end of the ramp?
- What parts of the run make the marble go down?
- How does the marble change direction?
- How can you join the tubes together? How can you make turns?
- What is momentum? How do you create more momentum?
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