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EDUCATOR’S GUIDE PAGE 1 (800) 295-5010 • www.DisneyEducation.com © Disney Synopsis Walt Disney believed, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” and that belief is at the core of Disney Imagineering—the place where imagination meets engineering. With the classroom edition of The Science of Disney Imagineering: Roller Coaster Ride Builder, you and your students will pair your knowledge of physical science principles with creative design as you build and share your ultimate thrill ride. If you’ve ever ridden a roller coaster, you know they’re speedy, gravity-defying wonders of velocity, momentum and trajectory. Some of the most creative coasters are designed by Disney’s team of Imagineers—from the classic Space Mountain coaster in California to the Rock’n’Roller Coaster in Orlando. In this Educator’s Guide, you’ll use core science principles to power creative thinking. Share these interactive activities with your students and take your classroom on an unforgettable ride! Program Objectives and Standards The Science of Disney Imagineering: Roller Coaster Ride Builder addresses the following objectives and standards for Grades 4 and up: Students will be able to: Change the trajectory of a launched object by adjusting its initial angle and velocity. Define projectile as an object that continues in motion by its own inertia and is influenced only by the force of gravity. Understand Newton’s 1st Law of Motion –an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Explain that force fields (magnetism, electricity and gravity) are areas where a force will act on an object, either by repulsing it (pushing it away) or attracting it (pulling it towards the center of the field). Understand that levers and pulleys are simple machines that amplify the amount of force you apply. Identify how friction will cause an object to slow down unless the object is given kinetic energy, such as by using a spring accelerator. Define momentum as the mass of an object multiplied by its velocity. ROLLER COASTER RIDE BUILDER ROLLER COASTER RIDE BUILDER SCIENCE IS THRILLING! www.facebook.com/DisneyEducation EDUCATOR’S GUIDE EDUCATOR’S GUIDE

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EDUCATOR’S GUIDE PAGE 1(800) 295-5010 • www.DisneyEducation.com

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SynopsisWalt Disney believed, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” and that belief is atthe core of Disney Imagineering—the place where imagination meetsengineering. With the classroom edition of The Science of DisneyImagineering: Roller Coaster Ride Builder, you and your students will pairyour knowledge of physical science principles with creative design as youbuild and share your ultimate thrill ride.

If you’ve ever ridden a roller coaster, you know they’re speedy, gravity-defyingwonders of velocity, momentum and trajectory. Some of the most creativecoasters are designed by Disney’s team of Imagineers—from the classic SpaceMountain coaster in California to the Rock’n’Roller Coaster in Orlando.

In this Educator’s Guide, you’ll use core science principles to power creativethinking. Share these interactive activities with your students and take yourclassroom on an unforgettable ride!

Program Objectives and Standards

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Roller Coaster Ride Builder addressesthe following objectives and standards for Grades 4 and up:

Students will be able to:

• Change the trajectory of a launched object by adjusting its initial angle and velocity.

• Define projectile as an object that continues in motion by its own inertia and is influenced only by the force of gravity.

• Understand Newton’s 1st Law of Motion – an object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion, unlessacted upon by an unbalanced force.

• Explain that force fields (magnetism, electricity and gravity) are areas where a force will act on an object, either by repulsing it(pushing it away) or attracting it (pulling it towards the center of the field).

• Understand that levers and pulleys are simple machines that amplify the amount of force you apply.

• Identify how frictionwill cause an object to slow down unless the object is given kineticenergy, such as by using a spring accelerator.

• Define momentum as the mass of an object multiplied by its velocity.

ROLLER COASTERRIDE BUILDERROLLER COASTER

RIDE BUILDER

SCIENCE IS THRILLING!

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EDUCATOR’S GUIDEEDUCATOR’S GUIDE

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Grade Content Standard Concepts

5-8 Physical Science:Motions and Forces

• If more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancelout one another, depending on their direction and magnitude. Unbalanced forces will causechanges in the speed or direction of an object’s motion.

5-8

Science in Personal andSocial Perspectives:Science and Technology inSociety

• Scientists and engineers work in many different settings, including colleges and universities,businesses and industries, specific research institutes and government agencies.

5-8

History and Nature ofScience:Science as a HumanEndeavor

• Women and men of various social and ethnic backgrounds—and with diverse interests, talents,qualities and motivations—engage in the activities of science, engineering and related fields such asthe health professions. Some scientists work in teams, and some work alone, but all communicateextensively with others. • Science requires different abilities, depending on such factors as the field of study and type ofinquiry. Science is very much a human endeavor and the work of science relies on basic humanqualities, such as reasoning, insight, energy, skill and creativity—as well as on scientific habits ofmind, such as intellectual honesty, tolerance of ambiguity, skepticism and openness to new ideas.

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Science Standards Addressed (NSTA)

Use The Science of Disney Imagineering: Roller Coaster Ride Builder to reinforce science principles while students build—and share—the roller coaster of their dreams!

Our new easy-to-use interactive whiteboard app allows you to present challenges that only science can solve!

Just like Disney Imagineers, students use the principles of physics (such as force, magnetism, velocity, trajectory) to build theirride. Using tracks, tools and special effects, you’ll help students create and share a personalized roller coaster ride that’s excitingand unique.

It’s more than fun—it’s the fundamentals of science!

Created with educators for educators and matched to core curriculum standards for grades 4-8, the Roller Coaster Ride Builderapp presents checkpoint challenges that require students to employ science principles such as trajectory, gravity, conservationof energy, Newton’s three laws, friction and more.

Roller Coaster Ride Builder gives you and your students a fun, hands-on environment to learn, try, fail—and try again. Studentswill enjoy making the car launch off the track, fly through the air and do other things that Imagineers can’t do in real life. You'lllove observing them in the classroom as you collaborate and discuss their successes and failures—as well as the specificprinciples at play.

Your Classroom Edition version includes 100 student access codes, student performance reporting, video resources to reinforcelessons, sharing capabilities and more.

In the classroom, the Roller Coaster Ride Builder app is easy to use on interactive whiteboards and school computers. Usingtheir personal access codes, students can continue working on their ride designs and science challenges on their homecomputers (PC and Mac) or other places where they have access to a computer.

IMAGINE WHAT YOU CAN CREATE WITH SCIENCE!

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Using the Interactive App on Your White Board and ComputerWhole Group Instruction

Begin by demonstrating one level for the classroom.You can pre-build and save part of your ride to shorteninstruction time. Focus on key functions such as how to place track and how to adjust tools, and leave them a fewsurprises to discover on their own – such as special effects and animatronics. Model the scientific process in everystep; make a hypothesis about what will happen, test, analyze results and form a new hypothesis. Offer chances forstudents to collaborate on the solutions. And always celebrate the “epic fail” that is a core part of both gaming andscience – your students will be tickled when your car rolls upside down or falls off the track!

You can also use the Video Resources button to access clips from The Science of Disney Imagineering DVD series toestablish concepts before or during your ride build.

Focusing on Key Concepts

Each game setting (Jungle and Space) includes 5 different checkpoints, eachwith its own science principle and related challenges. Each challenge unlocksspecific tools related to the science principle (for example, a Pulley Platform onthe Levers and Pulleys checkpoint and a Spring Bumper for Transfer of Energy).You can play the game out of sequence and select a specific checkpoint toexplore. Simply log in and click on the navigation button on the lower right ofthe game screen, and select a checkpoint to edit.

The checkpoint themes are:

Jungle 1: Trajectory

Jungle 2: Transfer of Energy

Jungle 3: Force Fields

Jungle 4: Conservation of Energy

Jungle 5: Free Play

Space 1: Levers and Pulleys

Space 2: Friction and Fluids

Space 3: Newton’s 3 Laws

Space 4: Electricity and Magnetism

Space 5: Free Play

Use the video resources tab to access clips from The Science of DisneyImagineering DVD series that clearly explain and demonstrate key concepts.The clips are grouped by subject.

Individual and Small Group Instruction

Your classroom version comes with 100 student access codes. You can assign the codes to individuals or groups, andyour students can log on at any internet enabled computer (meeting system standards) to work on and save theirrides. From the Welcome Screen before you enter the game, click on Teacher Tools. From here you will be able todownload student access codes, print instructions for your students to log on and create their own individual rides,and access to the student activity monitor to track student use.

Sharing Student Work

Your students can save their rides from any computer and log back in on your whiteboard or classroom computers toshare their work. You can also track each student’s participation through the Student Activity Monitor from theTeacher Tools screen. Your students have access to a variety of tools and special effects and they will produce a widerange of roller coaster rides with many clever and creative uses of science!

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Pre-build Questions1. What science principles are involved in creating a modern roller coaster?

2. Rank the science principles you mentioned in Question #1 as you imagine your own customized coaster.

3. What other non-scientific things do roller coaster designers employ to make rides more thrilling?

4. What principle do you think will be the hardest to overcome?

Post-build Questions1. What did you learn about gravity, momentum and friction while designing your roller coaster?

2. What were the biggest challenges you faced?

3. What was the most important part of your design: speed, trajectory, gravity, etc.?

4. What are some locations on your coaster design that had the greatest friction?

Take the Plunge!Get ready to design the roller coaster of your dreams with The Science of Disney Imagineering!

Integrating the Roller Coaster Ride Builder into science curriculum is simple, fun and rewarding! Using the app on a computer orwhiteboard is easy…

Create An Account

A few bits of information and any teacher can use Roller Coaster Ride Builder to bring physics principles to life. To begin, open theapp and click Login/Register.

Educator Manager

• The Educator Manager allows you to give access to your students so they can create rides either at home or in your computer lab.

• The application comes with 100 Student Access Codes.

• If you require additional Student Access Codes you can purchase them by clicking “Purchase More Student Access Codes.”

• Clicking the Student Activity Monitor allows you to review and monitorstudent progress in the application.

• Download and print the Student PDF to give students easy-to-followinstructions.

Setting Up Your Students

• Students get access to the application with their unique Student AccessCodes.

• Download the Student Access Codes to easily track your students’progress.

Create a Ride

• Once you’ve logged in you’ll come to a page that has three options:

• Instructions opens a window on how to use the application.

• Let’s Get Started takes you to the ride creator.

• Load Attraction allows you to load a previously saved ride.

• Select either the Jungle theme with its canyons, volcanoes, temples andwild beasts—or the Space theme and its vast alien landscape scatteredwith craters, mountains and caverns!

• The Ride Builder screen gets your coaster “on track.”

• The rest is up to science…and your imagination!

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EDUCATOR’S GUIDE PAGE 5(800) 295-5010 • www.DisneyEducation.com

For more information: Visit: http://www.scienceofdisneyimagineering.com

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MAC MINIMUM:

SOFTWARE:

Flash Player 10.3+

Firefox 5.0+, Chrome 13+, Safari 5.1+

OS X 10.6+

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

HARDWARE:

Macintosh 2GHz Intel Core Duo

2 GB Memory (RAM)

NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X2600 or better

256MB+ Video RAM

MAC RECOMMENDED:

SOFTWARE:

Flash Player 10.3+

Firefox 6.0+, Chrome 13+, Safari 5.1+

OS X 10.6+

HARDWARE:

Macintosh 2.4GHz Intel Core2 Duo

GB Memory (RAM)

NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X2600 or better

256MB+ Video RAM

PC MINIMUM:

SOFTWARE:

Flash Player 10.3+

Firefox 5.0+, Chrome 13+, Safari 5.1+

Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7

HARDWARE:

Single Core 2GHz or equivalent processor

1.5GB RAM

DirectX 9.0 Graphics Card with 256 MB+

PC RECOMMENDED:

SOFTWARE:

Flash Player 10.3+

Firefox 6.0+, Chrome 13+, Safari 5.1+

Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7

HARDWARE:

Core2 2.4GHz or equivalent processor

2GB RAM

DirectX 9.0 Graphics Card with 256 MB+

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Suggested Classroom Activities:

Roller Coaster Competition

Hold a classroom contest to design the coaster with the greatest g forces.

• In the spirit of a little friendly in-class competition, let each student design a custom roller coaster that creates the greatestamount of g forces.

• Have students share their coasters with their classmates—they can describe their coaster as they narrate a quick demo runfrom the Roller Coaster Ride Builder and detail how they created their powerful g forces.

• As they describe their custom coasters, students should detail the science being used. Are they using acceleration to overcomefriction? Are they using the Hydraulic Lift to gain more energy to clear an obstacle? Is the Pulley Launcher helping themachieve more g’s?

• When they reach each Checkpoint Challenge, encourage students to share how they used creative problem-solving to movetheir coaster to the next level.

• At the end of each demonstration, note each student’s highest g force.

• The student with the highest number wins.

• As an option, you might also want to judge coasters for additional criteria, such as most loops, longest track, greatest speed,fewest tools, etc.

• To motivate students, offer a small reward for the creator of the winning coaster (a homework “pass,” perhaps).

• Lead by example: impress your students by creating a custom coaster of your own!

Share the Ride

Within the Ride Builder app, you’ll find a tab labeled Video Resources. Here, you’ll find short clips taken from The Science ofDisney Imagineering series that demonstrate science principles in an engaging way. Use them in your classroom (on schoolcomputers or a whiteboard) to reinforce your curriculum.

Trajectory reveals how a churro is affected by gravity, speed and wind.

See how Friction impacts a trip down a water slide.

Watch how the power of Gravity acts in a roller coaster’s freefall.

Acceleration explains what roller coaster seat pulls the most gs.

Plus, you’ll find helpful clips about: Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion, Conservation of Energy, Magnetic Force Fields,Electromagnets, Mechanical Advantage and Electric Circuits.

Real-world Roller Coaster

Design and build a “real” roller coaster and see if a marble can make it through the twists and turns. Give it a try, and learn aboutforms of energy in the process.

As an extension, have students find the velocity of the marble. Velocity = distance traveled divided by time. Have studentsmeasure the length of the track in centimeters. Using a stopwatch, record the time it takes a marble to complete the run inseconds. So v = cm divided by seconds.

http://www.msichicago.org/education/educator-resources/classroom-activities/educator-info/activities/build-a-roller-coaster/

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A. The force that pulls all objects in the universe toward each other. centripetal force

B. The rate that objects near Earth’s surface accelerate downward due to gravity (10 m/sec/sec).

energy

C. Unrestrained motion that is affected only by the force of gravity. inversion

D. The force, directed toward the center of rotation, that keeps an object moving in a curved path.

acceleration

E. A push or pull on an object that results from its interaction with another object. physics

F. The rate at which an object changes its velocity. g

G. A physical force that opposes the relative motion of two objects in contact. force

H. The capacity to do work. free fall

I. A part of a roller coaster that turns the rider upside down. speed

J. The science of matter and energy and their interactions. gravity

K. The rate at which an object changes position, as defined by its speed and position. mass

L. Distance traveled per unit of time. velocity

M. The amount of matter in an object. friction

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Topsy TermyTest your knowledge of terms used in the creation of your custom roller coaster. Match the definition on the left with itsmatching word on the right

Answer key:A: gravity; B: g; C: free fall; D: centripetal force; E: force; F: acceleration; G: friction; H: energy; I: inversion; J: physics; K: velocity; L: speed; M: mass.

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Resources

BooksHench, John.Designing Disney. Disney Editions, 2009. Grades 4-8. A look at the principles of design behind Disney’s theme park attractions and characters.

The Imagineers.Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind-the-Dreams Look at Making the Magic Real. Disney Editions, 1998. Young adult. Describes the Imagineering process, from idea to construction.

InternetAmusement Park Physics: The Forces Behind the Fun http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/cgi-bin/splitwindow.cgi?top=http://www.glencoe.com/sec/science/top2.html&link=http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/

The Science of Roller Coasters http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/bk_issue/2000/sepoct/feat4.html

Roller Coaster Physicshttp://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211_fall2002.web.dir/shawna_sastamoinen/roller_coasters.htm

DVDThe Science of Disney Imagineering: Trajectory. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2008. Grade 4 and up. See how Newton’s First Law of Motion relates to these principles, and find out how to applythe physics of motion to predict and control the trajectory of a projectile.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Friction. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2010. Grade 4 and up. The Imagineers showcase how different types of friction—static, kinetic and rolling—comeinto play when they’re designing Disney’s theme park rides and attractions.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Magnetism. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2009. Grade 4 and up. Students will learn about the attraction and repulsion of opposite poles, magnetic fieldsand domains and electromagnets.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Electricity. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2010. Grade 4 and up. Students will learn the definitions of source, load, conductor and watts, as well as staticelectricity and its connection to lightning rods aboard the Disney Magic cruise ship.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Animal Adaptations: Communication. DVD. Disney EducationalProductions, 2009. Grade 4 and up. Walt Disney Imagineers study wild animals to create environments, activities andeducational programs at Disney’s Animal Kingdom® theme park that are tailored to the species’ physical andbehavioral adaptations.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. DVD. Disney EducationalProductions, 2009. Grade 4 and up. Students will see firsthand the relationship between the motion of objects and the forcesthat act on them.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Fluids. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2008. Grade 4 and up. Students will discover how fluids move and behave and how they can be used to createmechanical advantage.

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The Science of Disney Imagineering: Energy. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2008. Grade 4 and up. The Imagineers reveal the role energy plays in popular theme park attractions such as TestTrack and the Mad Tea Party. Students will identify the difference between potential and kinetic energy andbe able to identify examples and benefits of renewable energy.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Design and Models. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2008. Grade 4 and up. Students will learn the steps of the engineering design process as well as how both physicaland computer-aided design models are useful.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Levers and Pulleys. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2008. Grade 4 and up. The Imagineers take a look at how levers and pulleys were utilized to create attractions suchas Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Soarin’ Over California.

The Science of Disney Imagineering: Gravity. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2008. Grade 4 and up. Students learn the definition of gravity and the relationship between gravity, mass anddistance. They will be able to apply an understanding of forces to explain the feeling of weightlessness on aroller coaster ride.

The Way Cool Game of Science: Forces and Motion. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2007. Grade 4 and up. This DVD game is designed to test students’ knowledge of forces and motion. Bill’s answersinclude relevant video clips from the Bill Nye the Science Guy series.

Bill Nye the Science Guy: Momentum. KCTS Seattle. DVD. Disney Educational Productions, 2004. Grade 4 and up. Bill shows how weight and speed affect momentum.

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