Gayndah State High School
Year 11 Physics - Extended Experimental Investigation
Amusement Parks – Is all that excitement really safe?
THE TASK: You are to investigate and report on the safety of rides at an amusement park. There are many aspects to the issue of safety – questions to ask might include: Will people fall out? Will someone black out or have a heart attack? Will the ride break and send dozens of people plummeting to the ground? You should also consider the consequences of different types of accidents. What makes an accident more severe? Is it speed? force? energy? What does ‘failsafe’ mean?
SO WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? You will be assessed on three pieces of evidence – a report (with written and oral components) and a journal. Your report will consist of a written report and an oral presentation. These are to be prepared individually, even though you will be working in groups. Each group will investigate in detail at least three rides (one per member). Each person in the group will report in writing on all of the rides investigated, and on one of the rides in the oral presentation. Groups will need to work together to plan their work and collect the data needed. Each member will then prepare and individual report on the rides.
The written report will include background information about the ride (a description, dimensions, operation, etc.), an analysis of the motion of the ride (speed, acceleration, forces, energy changes, etc), and an analysis of factors that affect its safety. It will show evidence of research into and analysis of the physics of the ride, the engineering of the structures or vehicles, and the biological/physiological effects on people. The oral presentation will be a spoken and audiovisual summary of your findings for the ride. It will include suitable charts/graphs/calculations/illustrations/video or other information presented on paper or using the multimedia projector, and last for 5-6 minutes.
TO COMPLETE THIS TASK:
- You need to devise and use appropriate measuring devices, techniques and calculations to find all the relevant data for the rides you analyse – these may include speed, height, kinetic and potential energy, forces, acceleration and others. You need to describe all the techniques you use to obtain data, and verify them in the School/Laboratory before visiting the amusement park.
- Consider ANY problems that may be encountered, and how these could be prevented/overcome.
- Integrate ideas from group members.
- Make a list of factors that will influence your evaluation of the safety of rides, and carry out research on the types of failure that could occur.
- Research the affects of the various types of motion on people.
- Your researching, planning and testing will be documented in your journal.
- … add more points of your own here!
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS FOR SUCCESS:
The essential element here is that this is a largely independent task – while there are some ideas or suggestions on how to approach the issue on this sheet, it is up to each student and group to plan their own unique approach to this investigation.
This is THE major piece of assessment for our work in this context – make sure you give enough quality evidence to achieve the rating you deserve.
A combination of teamwork and independent study and research will be essential for success. You will need to start work in your own time as well as in class time at least 4-5 weeks before actually visiting the amusement park to ensure that you are ready to collect the data you will need in the time available.
Students will have to: -
- research rides
- research measurement techniques other than those used in class to obtain necessary data
- use existing formulae, experimental procedures, new procedures, etc to verify ideas/data collection suggestions, limitations, etc;
- research how various forces/motions affect people;
- research how engineers build in safety factors to designs;
- design or obtain designs for suitable measuring devices and build them eg. accelerometer;
- carry out calculations to find quantities that cannot be directly measured;
During the time that the project will run you will be expected to keep an individual JOURNAL, in which you should record the following:
notes of group discussions and your own reflections on these discussions;
questions that you want to ask about any aspect of the unit / research project;
diagrams and prac notes;
resources used and notes from resources used;
NOTE : Your Journal will be checked occasionally by your teacher to ensure that you are noting ideas, discussions within your group, questions to answer, thoughts, sketches, etc.
Terms to be able to explain:
Speed, acceleration, force, kinetic energy, potential energy, momentum, centripetal force, inertia, reaction, g, failsafe, safety factor, …