C O llaboration: A musement Park S cience T echnology E ducation R esources

fysik.org + physics.gu.se/LISEBERG

COASTER

COllaboration on Amusement parkScience and Technology Education ResourcesAnn-Marie.Pendrill@fysik.lu.se (Prof. physics)Conny Modig, Andreas Theve, Ulrik Lundby Hansen

The Amusement Park as a Science Center

Gender-neutral high-tech!

Physics for many senses, in a variation of contexts, and authentic, enjoyable settings

Combining the math and physics with the experience of eyes and your own body,

...with measurements using toys, mobile phones and electronics

Calculations and estimations

Amusement parks in textbooks?

Potential and kinetic energy in roller coasters

Centripetal forces in carousels Free fall in drop towers

Data collection and analysis

Amusement rides offer illustrations of physics principles that are known to be difficult!

Newtons's laws apply also to HUMAN bodies Equivalence principle: Inertial (ma) and Gravitational (mg) mass

Acceleration and rotations are absolute - can be measured within the system.

a = F /mAcceleration is felt

throughout the body!

Schools:Students and

Teachers

University/

Teacher Ed.Amusement Parks

In amusement parks, physics is fun

-And the fun is physics!

Learning?

"The one who learns most about a subject is the one who talks about it ... usually the teacher" (or IBSE?)

+"Variation theory" (Marton): Experience a phenomenon in

qualitatively different ways .... transferrable knowledge

How can teachers make use of amusement rides for MST education? Common shared experience + use authentic

data, photos, movies in examples Visits: Different levels of difficulty

Quiz + identify accelerometer graphs Joint focus on 2-3 familiar rides Group assignments, 2-3 rides/4-6 students ... with electronic data collection Take part in science day - or visit on your own

Preparation - follow-up (+ pre-post diagnoses)

Playgrounds provide useful practice!!!

ACTIVITIES and INTERACTIONS

MINIMIZE TEACHER - STUDENT INTERACTION?

Worksheet - to guide observations.

Let students discover new things with worksheet as a guide.

STUDENT-STUDENT INTERACTIONS !

MAXIMIZE INTERACTION:

Just-in-time teaching. Challenge observations, perceptions, contrast responses with experiences of the body

Cognitive conflictTEACHER OWNERSHIP!!!

TEACHER OWNERSHIP

ÏT ... more like clothes than like fire; to get a benefit, you must make them a part of your personal space, tailored to your needs.

(Chris Dede 1995)

How can teacher educations make use of amusement parks?

E.g. Practice in identifying relevant STEM Deeper understanding of the physics

(science, technology) involved Increased awareness of common

conceptual difficulties Experiences of learning in informal

settings. Teacher observatory on science

days!

“TEACHER OBSERVATORY”

We knew that teachers play a role- but not THAT much(Student teacher)

Amusement parks + science & technology?

Different approaches S&T: Not visible in material for

schools or the public School material produced in-house School material produced in

collaboration with e.g. teacher organisations, teacher educations, science centers or universities

+ S&T information displayed in parks

Arranging science daysVIEWS of S&T?Public Understanding ...

Why collaboration, parks + education ?

Many very common misconceptions

about force and motion

..... especially accelerated motion, e.g.

"An astronaut is weightless in space because there is no gravity"

????

Amusement parks are full of examples to illustrate textbook Gedanken experiments -

And many opportunities to challenge misconceptions!

(Rather than disseminating them)

Een astronaut in de ruimte weegt helemaalniets, omdat er geen zwaartekracht is.

Weightlessness = FREE FALL(Here: Built-in parabolic flight)

What's in it for the parks?

Popular school visits ... but more likely to be popular for schools with explicit learning opportunities

Way to attract local schools to park

Make use of resources that are (at times) underused to generate income and/or goodwill

Why collaboration between park education programmes?

Different themes -

same physics

Projects for learningin Amusement Parks

Student Teachers:• Physics and Technology –• TEACHER OBSERVATORY + helping out• Mathematics Education: Student-created

problems and grading instructionsEngineering Physics (and Physics students)• Forces and acceleration in roller coasters and

other rides + reading drawings and patentsTeacher Days and school Physics/Science Days:Liseberg – Tivoli -- Gröna Lund (+ Tusenfryd)+ ...?

physics.gu.se/LISEBERG/

Physicsday.org (US)

Ann-Marie.Pendrill@fysik.lu.se

PHYSICS-

FILLED

FUN

Expensive equipment?

Slinky Rabbit + Protractor (Show my kit) Water mug + bottle Film med karusell i

bakgrund

Vest Iphone4

Knowledge! Force ON your OWN

body! Important - irrelevant Ser inte bara med

ögonen.

Collaborations needed!

Park has data - but usually not easily available

Teachers face many challenges for visits Textbooks not very helpful

"Teacher observatory!

University Engineering Networking

same/similar rides in many parks, recycle problems.

Science Center - school contact, preparations ...

Collaboration – win-win!

Loup-Garou

Les seules montagnes russes en bois de Belgique

Vibrations assurées tout au long des 1 028 mètres de parcours à vitesse folle (80 km/h), avec un point culminant à 32 mètres, une dizaine de

descentes vertigineuses et 7 virages diaboliques !

Amusement parks:Math + ICT

Cette couleuvre t’emmène dans un trajet captivant. Tu fais un parcours dans lequel tu va 3 fois à l'envers, après tu refais ceci en arrière.

Captivant et ssssensationnel !

Speed 80km/hCapacity 750Length 285m

Planning science days ...

Advertising, costs Data needed

Capacity + flow Ensure that not all

high-school students wait of free fall rides

Student tasks + teacher support

Safety Back-up Food

"In the Pony Carousel, the cuddly toys on the strings started to move like this. I think it was to prove that the Earth is rotating."

"I learned that when going in the Pony Carousel, the cuddly toy kept going in the same direction while I was going around."

(10-year olds, 3 months later)

Multiple senses

3 months later:

When you used the slinky in the

Frog Hopper, you got to see how

much you weighed.

When you went up, it was stretched

out because there was so much speed.

The slinky went up and down. When you were at

the highest point, the slinky was the shortest, which

means that you were the lightest.

Idealizations vs reality. Authenticity

Rotating system Free fall YOU are the object Energy losses in roller

coasters. Qualitative -

Quantitative

School visits to amusement parks offer rich and inspiring learning opportunities in mathematics, science and technology, and the rides illustrate many important principles: The carousel is a roting coordinate system, drop towers let us experience the weightlessness of free fall, pendulum rides give a periodic variation between feeling light and heavy, rollercoasters use an interplay between potential and kinetic energy to take the riders through a wide variety of three-dimensional motions. What technology is used to keep the riders safe? How does the body respond to the unusual motions -and how do our different senses contribute to the experience? What forces act on the body -and how can they be calculated and measured using different tools, from simple toys to advanced ICT applications? For student teachers, a school event in an amusement park provides an opportunity to study pupil's learning and observe many teachers and classes in action. A collaboration between the amusement industry, universities and schools, enable teachers and students access to a deeper and more detailed understanding of the science involved. This talk describes such a collaboration between schools and universities in Sweden and Denmark and the Liseberg, Gröna Lund and Tivoli Gardens amusement parks