Process
Work through these activities in order. Remember to record your data on your worksheet. Click here to access it to print.
Day 1:
Today you will be learning about the basics of roller coasters and how they are designed and work.
Day 1:
Today you will be learning about the basics of roller coasters and how they are designed and work.
- Begin by going to Big Universe and read the book Roller Coasters by Denny Von Finn. To find this, log in, click on Library and type roller coaster in the Search box at the top right. After reading, write down 3 concepts on your Motion and Design worksheet that could help you in the construction of one. You will then take the Quiz and record your score.
- Watch the video segment Roller Coaster Physics in Discovery Education. You will log in, type roller coaster physics in the search at the top, and then scroll down to segment that lasts 6:45. After watching, you will create 3 Tweets sharing 3 important concepts on your worksheet. Each Tweet must include a username ex. @baucomtech, no more than 140 characters stating the idea, and at least 1 hashtag ex. #motion. Here is an example:
3. If you have time left, you may watch any other roller coaster videos in Discovery Education.
Day 2:
It's time to review what you learned in science class about different forces, gravity, friction, and magnetism. You will be applying these concepts to how they are used to safely construct rides at amusement parks. There are 2 versions of this activity. We'll be doing the modified one, but if you get a chance at home to complete Parkwood Plot at the bottom, I think you will like it. It takes 45 minutes to an hour.
Instead, you'll be working through the modules from it below. Do the concept and then take the quiz for it. Record your score on the scoresheet for Parkwood Plot. Do this for each part. Put this in your folder to turn in at the end. Let's get started and head off to:
All about forces
Concepts
Questions
Gravity, stretching & compression
Concepts
Questions
Friction
Concepts
Questions
Magnetic forces
Concepts
Questions
Balanced & unbalanced forces
Concepts
Questions
How engineers have used the science of force.
The entire version of ParkWorld Plot
Days 3 and 4:
Now we know that good scientists always do research before they begin construction on a project. We have learned quite a bit about force, motion, and magnetism, but let's take some time to investigate how they impact roller coaster designs.
1. Watch this video from Sci Show.
Click to set custom HTML
2. Now that you know the basics, you are going to try your hand at designing a roller coaster. Begin with seeing how kinetic and potential energy play a role in how roller coasters are put together with Discover! Energy and Motion. How did you do? Write down 2 things you learned about the relationship between kinetic and potential energy.
3. You will now apply what you've learned in the following simulations.
Once you have both thumbs up, you will press the Print Screen key on your keyboard and then paste the image onto a blank Word document. Save this as roller coaster in your My Documents. You will be adding more screen shots and then printing to turn in.
Day 5 - The Final Day
It's time to finally design your roller coaster for Carowinds. You are deciding between a jungle theme and a space theme. Your job is to create a thrilling but safe ride. You can use any of the tracks, tools, figures and effects you want but your ride must make it safely from start to finish. When you are successfully completed with this, raise your hand and share your ride with me and I'll check it off.
Get started with Roller Coaster Ride Builder,
Then it will be your job to persuade the amusement park board this is the ride they should let you build. To help guide you, look at this PowerPoint - Persuasive Strategy PowerPoint Presentation. Keep in mind that what you just did is only 1 part of the ride. You can be creative with the rest, but make sure what you include has a chance of really working based on everything you just learned about roller coaster physics. Your proposal should include the following:
Divide the tasks up. One of you can be the writer while the other is the sketcher. Be sure to get feedback from each other though.
3. You will now apply what you've learned in the following simulations.
- Start out at Amusement Park Physics. Click on the Park Entrance to begin. Make sure to read all the information given and then head off to the Roller Coaster. Scroll through all the beginning information as you will learn a lot . When you start designing your coaster, click on the text bubble to the left of each number for helpful hints. Keep working on your coaster until you get one with the thumbs up for both the Coaster Safety Rating and the Coaster Fun Rating. Mouse over each part of your design to understand why it succeeded or failed the safety inspection. This will be helpful to you later when designing your own coaster.
Once you have both thumbs up, you will press the Print Screen key on your keyboard and then paste the image onto a blank Word document. Save this as roller coaster in your My Documents. You will be adding more screen shots and then printing to turn in.
- Now try the Funderstanding Roller Coaster Game. This is a good one because you really get to experiment with making all kinds of adjustments with the steepness of the hills, size of the loop, speed, mass, gravity and friction and get a better understanding of how they work separately and together. If you want more information about them, be sure to click the help button (the ? at the bottom right).
- Finally, try your hand at the Coaster Creator. You will be applying many of the concepts you learned so far - Design your roller coaster and make adjustments as needed. Scientists learn from their mistakes which is how many new discoveries are made. Once you are successful, make a screen shot of the Results page. Paste that into your ride journal and save.
- If you have any time left you and your partner can experiment with Roller Coaster Designer. Reading the instructions is helpful. Designing this course can be really challenging so get ready to learn from those mistakes and adjust as needed. See how many levels you can get through. Good luck!
Day 5 - The Final Day
It's time to finally design your roller coaster for Carowinds. You are deciding between a jungle theme and a space theme. Your job is to create a thrilling but safe ride. You can use any of the tracks, tools, figures and effects you want but your ride must make it safely from start to finish. When you are successfully completed with this, raise your hand and share your ride with me and I'll check it off.
Get started with Roller Coaster Ride Builder,
Then it will be your job to persuade the amusement park board this is the ride they should let you build. To help guide you, look at this PowerPoint - Persuasive Strategy PowerPoint Presentation. Keep in mind that what you just did is only 1 part of the ride. You can be creative with the rest, but make sure what you include has a chance of really working based on everything you just learned about roller coaster physics. Your proposal should include the following:
- A clear statement of your proposal - What do you want?
- Data to support your position - Why should they let you build this particular ride? Be sure to address the thrilling time riders will have as well as safety.
- Any prior knowledge (add information that you know relates to the topic)
- A simple sketch of your ride showing the hills, loops and other features you plan to build
Divide the tasks up. One of you can be the writer while the other is the sketcher. Be sure to get feedback from each other though.