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Marble Racetrack
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Bear – 3rd Grade
Marble Madness
Elective
Requirement 4

Marble Racetrack

Bear – 3rd Grade
Marble Madness
Elective
Requirement 4

Marble Racetrack

Snapshot of Activity

Create a marble racetrack from recycled materials. 

Indoor
3
3
5
If you want to know more about The Adventure Activity Key click here.

The more recycled items gathered, the more options the Cub Scouts will have to design their racetrack. 

  • Five to ten paper towel tubes 
  • Five to ten toilet paper tubes 
  • Ten paper plates of various sizes 
  • One egg carton 
  • Ten paper cups  
  • Two medium sized cardboard boxes 
  • Twenty pipe cleaners 
  • Masking tape 
  • Scissors 
  • Marbles 
  • Paper 
  • Pencils 
  • Ruler 

Other potential supplies 

  • Wooden train track pieces 
  • Plastic bottles 
  • PVC pipes, at least ¼” larger diameter than the marble size 

Before the meeting: 

  1. Familiarize yourself with the possibilities by watching the following videos: 
  2. Gather supplies. 
  3. Set up meeting space with room for Cub Scouts to build a marble racetrack together. 

During the meeting: 

  1. Share with Cub Scouts that they will be building a racetrack together for marbles that has at least two lanes using the materials in the meeting space. 
  2. Talk about the different ways the supplies could be used to create a marble racetrack. 
    • Tubes can be used as tunnels, cut in half length wise to create channels which could also be taped together to create different lanes, cut multiple times along the width and then reassembled to fame a curve, and used as support towers to create varying heights to the track. 
    • Paper plates can be cut and tilted to make spirals, cork screws, and funnels.  Different sized plates will allow for wider or tighter curves. 
    • Egg cartons can be used as a trap at the end of the course to collect the marbles, and an obstacle for the marble to navigate through during the race. 
    • Pipe cleaners can be used to create different lanes for the marbles on the track 
    • Paper or plastic cubs can be used as traps at the end of the race, and tubes or funnels during the race 
    • Cardboard boxes can be used as a frame for the racetrack, additional supplies for parts of the racetrack, or simply inclined with tape for lanes. 
  3. Talk about gravity and friction. 
    • Gravity: The track needs inclines to allow the marbles to race under their own power.  The track should start at a high point and end at a low point. 
    • Friction:  Different materials will affect the speed at which the marbles can race. 
  4. Let the Cub Scouts discuss what they would like their racetrack to look like. Remind them the more complex the design, the more time it will take to build the track before racing. 
  5. Play! Allow the Cub Scouts to race their marbles. 

Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.