Independent Site Visits 11th Grade:

 

Coney Island

Grade Level: 11th grade physics

Learning Objective: Students will be able to experience and demonstrate an understanding of the physics at work on a roller coaster.

Materials: Students should have a pen, paper, handout sheet, and a physics science textbook.

Do Now: What are some things you identify with a roller coaster?

Concept mapping (accept all answers)

Motivation: Discuss some of the physics principles that can be used to describe a roller coaster.

Presentation: The students will work in-groups of five.  They will use their senses to observe parts of the roller coaster ride.  The members will discuss their experiences to answer the following questions.

Questions:

§       Explain the Doppler’s effect of a person standing at the bottom of the roller coasters dip.

§       What is the speed of the roller coaster from the beginning to the ending of the trip?  From the peak of the coaster to its low?

§       Is there work being done during a complete ride of the roller coaster?

§       Explain how there is a flow of energy during the coaster ride.

§       Describe the different forces that you observe during the trip.

Guided Practice:

Have the students reconvene at the school to explain how those physical principles could be applied to the roller coaster.

Homework: How can things in your neighborhood be used to demonstrate these same principles?

 


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