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You are a member of the research team at a company that designs and builds amusement park rides. You have been given the task of doing the research for a new ride. You will determine what features the new ride needs to have to make it "fun" so that people will pay to ride it and to make it safe. You will use the internet and expert advice to create your list of features. Your results will then be posted on this web site so that the computer assisted drafting class (acting as the design engineers of the company) at your school can design a ride meeting your specifications. This design will then be built by the material processing class (the manufacturing division of the company) at your school. The spring physics class will then use your list of criteria to analyze the finished prototype before it goes into production.
Your list of criteria for this new ride needs to include:
1. What makes rides fun?
You will find the answer to this question as you do your research, but as an example, you may find things such as:
- variety -- at least 3 different movements (corners, hills, etc.)
- speed -- roller coasters should have a section that exceeds __mph, or circular rides should have angular velocities of at least __mph.
2. What safety features does a ride need to have?
You will find the answer to this question also as you do your research, but as an example, you may find things such as:
- accelerations should not exceed __g's corners of __ radius should be banked at ___ degrees
PLANNING (How to get started:)
Try these web sites as a jumping off point:
- Amusement Park Physics -- a site where you design a virtual roller coaster
- Amusement Ride Accidents -- news about accidents related to rides
- Carousel -- background information and historical facts about carousels
- Rollercoaster! -- information about roller coaster history and selected rides, an article on "The Most Terrifying Coaster Ever!"
- Roller Coaster Database -- a searchable database of roller coaster statistics covering more than 450 rides
- Roller Coaster FAQ -- questions and answers about roller coasters
- Roller Coaster Physics -- resource on the physics behind roller coasters
- Theme Parks -- the Mining Company's guide to theme parks, including links to background information about parks
- World of Coasters -- a collection of news, information and resources relating to roller coasters
- Keep a journal and make entries each day. A pre-assessment needs to be done as your journal entry for the first day. Details on what to include are on the rubrics page.
- Your final list of criteria of fun and safety for the new ride. This is to be posted on the saved data page for the other classes to access.
- Your assessment of how this project worked for you, what you liked, and what could be improved. This you will post on the evaluation page.
For more detailed information on how you will be graded, see the rubrics page.
Make sure you check the Rubric periodically.
Authors: Jennifer Caskey (jcaskey@ties.k12.mn.us) and Mark LeFeber (mlefeber@ties.k12.mn.us) School: Mahtomedi High School Created: March 26, 1999 Updated: May 2, 1999 URL: /lincon/w99/projects/coasters/student1.html