Coasters Bring Thrill In Learning About Physics

By Tanjua Damon

The gasps in the front lobby at Newtown Middle School a little over a week ago were a sure sign that something exciting was happening, almost like a gasp that could be heard by someone riding on a roller coaster.

Eighth grade students might as well have been on roller coasters during the physics lesson they received building roller coasters and then testing them for sped acceleration, gravitations, kinetics, and potential energy. The students’ coasters had to include a loop and a corkscrew, as well as three hills. The students used a marble as their rider.

Science teacher John Girard likes the idea of giving the students a hands-on activity to embrace the difficult subject of physics. The students spent time before, during, and after school building the roller coasters.

“It’s a good problem solving activity,” Mr Girard said. “We can encompass all aspects of physics with this project.”

Lucy Manos, Logan Allison, and Amanda Norling worked on “The Lighting Bolt.” They quickly found that overall their coaster met the requirements of the project.

“It’s good. It works,” Lucy said. “The loop, we had to fix it a lot. [It was interesting] to see how roller coasters work.”

Kevin Gilroy and Taylor Walker created “The Black Hole.” Both found the project helpful and a better way to understand physics aspects.

“I liked watching the ball go around in the loops,” Kevin said. “I’m learning that physics can apply to real life situations.”

“Figuring out how to make the coaster and trying to put it together was a challenge,” Taylor added. “But watching everyone else and seeing what they came up with was fun. They were really creative. It’s just awesome how everyone can work together.”

Many students found the project challenging because they had to figure out materials that would work and be durable. They also had to take into account how gravity would affect their coasters from day to day.

“It was frustrating, but sometimes fun,” Ben Greenfield said. “Especially when it doesn’t work after it has been working. I think it would be fun to design roller coasters [professionally].”

“I think this project is fun,” Nick Maurer added. “Changing it, and improvising to make it work.”

Ethan Breitling liked the experience he and his teammates were able to receive on problem solving, especially since he felt time was a bit limited in building the coaster in school.

“I think it makes us learn how to trouble shoot and fix problems,” Ethan said. “Overall it was a great learning experience because not only did we get to have fun, we got to incorporate physics.”

Anyone wishing to see all of the roller coaster projects can view www.teacherweb.com/ct/newtownmiddleschool/MrGirard/.