The Science Behind Roller Coasters
43:02
Grades: 5 - 12

Video Description: How does energy apply to the design of roller coasters? How do roller coaster designers and engineers use the hills, loops, curves, twists, and turns to take advantage of potential energy, kinetic energy, and dissipating energy to create a thrill ride like no other?  View this archived program and find out.  Jeff Havlik, a roller coaster architect, is our guest expert for this program.  To learn more about Jeff and the work he does, view a video about him here.

Type of Video: Program*
Unique Video ID: Physics-9**

Quick Ideas for Using the Video:

  • Have a Roller Coaster Challenge for your learners after viewing this program. Using found items, such as paper towel rolls or window shade slats, require them to design a roller coaster that moves a marble through x number of hills and turns.
  • Use the video for your own research and activity ideas as you plan a Science/STEM unit on specific concepts of physics and/or energy using roller coasters as an example of how those concepts come to life in the real world.

 

*Programs offer long form exploration of a topic(s) in the area of study with single or multiple guests interacting with an audience.

**The unique Video ID can be used to quickly locate a single video in the ET collection. This search function is designed to let teachers assign students to watch a specific video and have only that video appear as a search result. Just click on Search and choose “By Video ID.” Then type in the Video ID as it appears above. Be sure to include the dash.

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