Roller coasters in the classroom?

Wednesday, 14 May 2003

Cedar Point Press Release

SANDUSKY, Ohio, May 14, 2003 - Roller coasters in the classroom are an unusual site; however, at Cedar Point more than 8,000 students from around the Midwest will turn the amusement park/resort into the world's biggest laboratory on Thursday, May 22 during its 18th annual Physics Day and 3rd annual Middle School Math and Science Day.

High school physics students will journey to Cedar Point with protractors, calculators and other scientific equipment to calculate problems and principles they have studied throughout the school year in the classroom and apply them to Cedar Point's world-record-breaking collection of 68 rides, including the new 420-foot-tall, 120-mph Top Thrill Dragster, the tallest and fastest roller coaster on Earth. Quantities such as speed, power, velocity, distance and acceleration will be measured. Physics Day is endorsed by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) as an educational and instructional exercise and is used by many teachers as a final exam or laboratory exercise.

The NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will have a presence at the park in the Cedar Point Ballroom during Physics, Math and Science Day with Microgravity Man, a caped crusader who promotes research and technology for NASA; presentations for students and teachers at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; and a photo booth where students can get their picture taken with an astronaut display.

Middle School students will discover how math and science apply to the fun of Cedar Point by solving problems such as height, angles, shapes and scale, along with completing lesson plans that relate to the history and future of the park. Stopwatches, altimeters and rulers will be the tools of choice for math and science students.