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Amusement Park and Playground physics ideas are zooming around again. Here is a collection of LC and external resources to start your activities rolling along. If you can not take your students ' out to a park' for the day, consider having them design and build rides. Playground equipment works well to stimulate learning, too. patty

I thought that this collection had uploaded. Apparently it did not so here it is. Enjoy! ~patty

Amusement Park Physics Collection (9 items)

Clarence Bakken's Physics Day in CA

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Supplemental materials for Amusement Park Physics

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Annenberg Leaarner Interactive: Amusement Park Physics

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Thank you Patty for bringing this back to the forefront. It always amazes me how some of the “old classics” still hold a fascination for my middle school students. There is so much to be learned in terms of physics when a student has the opportunity to “build” their own amusement park. Many years ago I discovered K’Nex had an entire Amusement Park series. You can purchase them either as individual components or the whole amusement park education set. When you buy the latter, you get a teacher’s guide as well as the ability to build several of the same models simultaneously. The reason I love the K’Nex series is they are durable for students to use. The parts don’t break easily, but are flexible in their configurations. I have found once students built the ride in the kit, they were better able to come up with their own rides as well as successfully map out where each ride should go and why. There are a lot of different K’Nex Amusement Park sets, large and small. The price of course goes up when you add motors and height. I’ve stuck with the relatively simple rides mostly due to space. I’ve included a few of the links to Amazon so you can see the possibilities. Roller Coaster http://www.amazon.com/KNEX-Amazin-Coaster-Building-Set/dp/B00CPNLXRE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403828319&sr=8-1&keywords=k%27nex+amusement+park Supersonic Swirl http://www.amazon.com/KNEX-Supersonic-Swirl-Building-Set/dp/B00CPNLECI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1403828319&sr=8-3&keywords=k%27nex+amusement+park Pirate Ship http://www.amazon.com/KNEX-Micro-Amusement-Pirate-Building/dp/B004M8ROBE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1403828319&sr=8-4&keywords=k%27nex+amusement+park Swing Ride http://www.amazon.com/KNEX-Micro-Amusement-Swing-Building/dp/B004M8ROB4/ref=pd_sim_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1NDQ5V8Q02AB6SWBDQRQ Ferris Wheel http://www.amazon.com/Collect-Build-Amusement-Series-Ferris/dp/B003MGJTEM/ref=pd_sim_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1860P0CS2APR09ZF1D9J Corkscrew http://www.amazon.com/Collect-Amusement-Series-Corkscrew-Coaster/dp/B003CXRMCG/ref=pd_sim_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1A54SF56FWM771N0RFRC Vertical Viper http://www.amazon.com/Collect-Build-Amusement-Series-Vertical/dp/B003CYJDM2/ref=pd_sim_t_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1F592NHQ033Q8TG0FWZQ Star Shooter Coaster http://www.amazon.com/KNEX-Star-Shooter-Coaster-Building/dp/B00CPNKPG4/ref=pd_sim_t_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0GFG7V8P7TN823QC5FD7 Thrill Rides Phoenix Roller Coaster http://www.amazon.com/Thrill-Phoenix-Roller-Coaster-Building/dp/B009IX4JPW/ref=pd_sim_t_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1H0TVW93TN9WVZQ71ACX Firestorm Freefall Coaster http://www.amazon.com/KNex-Firestorm-Freefall-Coaster/dp/B009SEDYV6/ref=pd_sim_t_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0AQAYMK5A0HS67XGHEKF Super Nova Blast Roller Coaster http://www.amazon.com/Thrill-Supernova-Roller-Coaster-Building/dp/B00CTUEPLY/ref=pd_sim_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0B2T1KHXBSH3GE6KNVBA Atomic Coaster http://www.amazon.com/KNex-51441-KNEX-Atomic-Coaster/dp/B00857SRVO/ref=pd_sim_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=19E0RPQG99W24G9GPE2N Super Cyclone Coaster http://www.amazon.com/Super-Cyclone-Coaster-Motorized-Building/dp/B0064AGK2M/ref=pd_sim_t_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0WN89JSP2V69GDDQ1ZR0 Cosmic Twist Coaster http://www.amazon.com/KNex-51047-Cosmic-Twist-Coaster/dp/B004S663I0/ref=pd_sim_t_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=11KW0CMJS49J58AMH69A Rippin Rocket Coaster http://www.amazon.com/KNex-51047-Cosmic-Twist-Coaster/dp/B004S663I0/ref=pd_sim_t_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=11KW0CMJS49J58AMH69A Initially I purchased most of my kits at Target after Christmas while they were on sale many years ago. If I were to do it again, I would purchase the educator sets only because you get more K’Nex, more ability to build more models and greater freedom to create student created models.

This is so interesting! I had never explored the idea of playground science before and I think students would absolutely flip to know that their everyday fun equipment can be used to learn something! Thanks for sharing.

I think building or designing a ride is a great idea. It can be an introduction to physics for the children. They have to figure out how to build the ride to make it work. I think this would be a very fun and educational project.

Hello, I think this is a great idea for older kids I think. I think talking them to the amusement park as a field trip and seeing, feeling, and experiencing the physics in play on the rides is a good experiences. Then have a follow up activity where students are to design their own roller coaster our of building blocks or leggos. Students would have to apply the physics they learned to designing their own ride.

I think taking students to the amusement parks is a great idea. You can incorporate engineering and physics while your visit. If an amusement park is not at your reach then you can totally use the schools playground. Any science lesson can be incorporated. These ideas will take the students out of the class room and try real world application.

Great ideas. Thanks.

Hello! I find this topic to be fascinating and can be super interesting to children. I think that this topic has great potential for some STEM actives in classrooms. Thank you so much for the links and information. These were super interesting to read. Heather