Gravitational Forces 5th Grade Marble Run Engineering Science Activity Friction

Students work together to build marble runs, analyze how well their designs work, and improve them for speed or resistance. The challenge builds problem-solving, critical thinking, and scientific reasoning.

The reading passage and question sets add science literacy skills.

What’s Included

• Student reading passage on gravity, mass, weight, and opposing forces
• Student instructions for building the marble run
• Printable worksheets and class charts for recording trial data
• Engineering challenge to create the slowest marble run
• Question sets: open-ended, fill-in-the-blank, and multiple choice
• Task cards for station rotation or small groups

Skills Covered

• Understanding gravitational force as an attractive force
• Differentiating mass and weight
• Exploring friction and air resistance
• Applying engineering design practices (5-ETS1-1 to 5-ETS1-3)
• Conducting fair tests and analyzing variables
• Supporting claims with evidence and data

Ways to Use This Resource

• Use as a science station
• Run as a STEM challenge
• Teach during a forces unit
• Add to engineering design lessons
• Use for collaborative group work

Why Teachers Love It

• Hands-on and collaborative
• Combines science, engineering, and ELA skills
• Data sheets support fair testing
• Task cards allow flexible use
• Aligned to NGSS

This marble run gravity activity gives students a challenge that makes forces visible, and the data they collect becomes their evidence.