Girls in STEM Take Marble Run Challenges to the Next Level

This week, the Girls in STEM Club at the Discovery Science and Technology Centre took their marble run experiments literally to a whole new level. Building on the creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills developed during last week’s session, the girls were challenged to design and construct more advanced marble runs using 3D structures and portable panels. The activity encouraged them to think like real engineers by designing systems that could guide marbles through different directions, heights, surfaces, and obstacles while keeping them moving smoothly from start to finish.

To begin the session, the girls watched a video about objects in motion and observed how challenges such as unstable surfaces, falling dominoes, steep inclines, sudden direction changes, and keeping marbles safely on track could be solved using walls, supports, and carefully designed pathways.

Working enthusiastically in teams of two or three, the girls explored a wide range of materials and construction methods. They used domino pieces of different sizes, channels, pegs, plastic tubes, treads, and even air pressure from syringes to create unique marble run systems. The room quickly transformed into a busy engineering workshop filled with discussion, experimentation, creativity, and excitement as ideas were tested and improved.

As the activity progressed, the girls explored important engineering and physics concepts including friction, speed, gravity, inclination, surface roughness, momentum, and motion across multiple levels. Many teams discovered that even small adjustments could significantly change the behaviour of their marble runs. By observing the designs of other teams and learning through trial and error, the students continuously redesigned, tested, and refined their creations, developing resilience, creativity, and problem-solving skills along the way.

Most importantly, the girls learned that real engineering is not about getting everything right the first time. It is about experimenting, learning from mistakes, improving designs, working together, and enjoying the process of discovery along the way.