Conservation of Energy Physics Experiment

Here's a physics activity that I do in my high school physics classroom each year and it's something that you can do with your high school student at home, but potentially on a larger scale.  The goal is to roll a marble down a ramp, off a table, and into a bucket.  Sounds easy right?  The catch is that you don't get the marble until you've already positioned the bucket in the appropriate place!

Students use conservation of energy to determine the velocity of the marble at the end of the ramp.  They then use that velocity and the height of the table to determine how far away the bucket should be placed.  This is a good activity for your kid to prove his/her understanding of physics to you!  Plus you can expand on it.  Instead of a small ramp off a table, take the ramp to your roof!  Or build a taller ramp, or build a larger ramp and use a bowling ball instead of a marble.  The options are limitless.  Just be careful to not fall off the roof or drop a bowling ball on someone!