Outdoor Classroom S.T.E.M Activities
The Outdoor Classroom can be an exciting and
educational time for students. Make the most of the
instructional opportunities available. The
activities were written to focus on interesting aspects of
various rides at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.
Various information
and assistance will be available at the STEM center.
Dr.
Diabolical's Cliffhanger is one of the newest rides.
Here is an activity to analyze the ride.
Dr.D Cliffhanger.pdf
Students will need the app Graphical
Analysis from Vernier for their phone.
Go by the STEM center for assistance if needed.
Here is a Graphical Analysis
file with ride data.
Dr. D
Cliffhanger copy.gambl
Here is a video of the train at the bottom of
the lift hill. Students may also take their own
videos. Students can use the video to estimated the
velocity of the train at the bottom of the first
hill. Assume 30 frames/sec. Dr. D.mp4
This is an activity
that tasks students with observing multiple
rides in the park and identifying
phenomena.
A Walk
in the Park.pdf
STEM activities are available
for Elementary, Middle School and High School
students. Students will answer short questions and
find specific rides that match established criteria
and data. This may be used in conjunction with or as
an alternative to the traditional workbook.
Information and assistance will be available at the
STEM Center. Graphs for several rides are available to
review at the STEM Center. There is also an activity
at the STEM Center to match various graphs to their
corresponding rides.
Here is the Elementary
version.
Here
is the Middle School version.
Here
is the High School version.
Here are some graphs that will needed
to answer the above STEM activities.
Iron Rattler
Superman
Poltergeist
The Outdoor Classroom Workbook is available
with a variety of activities that STEM
students can conduct related to rides at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. No
specialized equipment is required. Students
will need to record observations, estimations
and various time
aspects of the rides. There will not be enough time for
students to complete everything, so the
individual teacher should choose what best
suits the needs of their students. This
workbook is quite extensive.
Thanks go to
Clarence Bakken of California for his help and
inspiration. He got me hooked on using an
amusement park as a STEM laboratory. I
hope you enjoy your day of fun with science,
technology, engineering, mathematics, and
discovery at Six Flags
Fiesta Texas! Clarence's book
can be a valuable resource.
Bakken,
C. (2011) Amusement
Park Physics, 2nd ed. American Association of
Physics Teachers. ISBN 978-1-931024-12-9